Prom Night
by HilaryDroxursox
Summary: After spending a magical night with Gordo at her senior prom, Lizzie finds threatening notes directed toward her. Along with the LG relationship, lives are also at risk. When Gordo's life is threatened, will Lizzie risk hers and other's lives to save him?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hey, guys! I was itching to write this story, so here's the first chapter! BTW, my other story was rated T just to be safe. It could have been for kids. However, this fic IS RATED T FOR A REASON! Later chapters will get a little…if-y for kids under 13 to read. This should be fine, though, since I'm a teenager and I'm writing it. :P I will update my other story soon!**

Gordo and Keith stood at the bottom of the stairs, Keith patiently waiting as if he had done this a million times before while Gordo leaned against the banister tapping his foot nervously. "Dude," Keith thumped Gordo on the back, "chill. You'll be fine." Gordo raised an eyebrow and resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Just then, Lizzie descended down the stairs with Miranda on her heels. They were both beautiful from head to toe and ready to greet their prom dates.

"Hey, Gordo!" Lizzie exclaimed, coming up to her date and looking him over. "You cleaned up nicely," she joked, slapping his arm playfully.

"You don't look so bad yourself," he gave her a soft kiss. "I got you this…you can, like, wear it if you want." He held out a corsage with red roses that complimented Lizzie's gray and white dress nicely.

"Mmm, roses are my favorite." Lizzie placed the flowers on her wrist. "Don't be nervous." She added, kissing his cheek. Gordo nodded unsurely.

Keith and Miranda exchanged kisses and Keith gave her a gorgeous corsage with orchids and white roses in it.

The two couples headed out to Gordo's Toyota Scion **(A/N: I am so proud of myself for looking that up!) **and drove to a large, elegant hotel, singing along to the radio the whole way.

When they got to the hotel, dance music blared out of the large dining room on the left. Keith, Lizzie, Miranda, and Gordo glanced at the room. Elegantly decorated, the room was filled with teenagers. Several tables were pushed against the walls, and refreshments were on a buffet table close to the door.

"Let's dance," Gordo said, feeling much more playful. He pulled Lizzie out onto the dance floor. She squealed with joy and followed him willingly. Everyone danced the night away.

When the dance was over around 10:00, Lizzie and Gordo dropped Miranda and Keith off at their houses, then continued their car ride in silence. Lizzie stared out the window at the shimmering houselights of Hillridge, California. It was hard to believe that her senior year was almost over and that soon she would be across the country at NYU. All she had ever wanted was to be grown up and independent, and now adulthood was staring her in the eye. Her teen years had gone by so much faster than she thought they would. Gordo interrupted his girlfriend's thoughts with, "My parents are out of town. Wanna come over for a little bit before curfew?"

"I'd love to," Lizzie said, but she didn't sound so happy.

"Liz," Gordo reached over and took her hand. "What's on your mind?"

"Nothing," she mumbled, trying to pull her hand away. His grip was tight, but loving.

"There's more than that." He smiled and squeezed her hand softly.

"Well," she croaked, "I mean…our whole lives have flashed before our eyes. In a few months we're going to be going to college all the way across the country. I feel so…so _old_." Gordo chuckled. "See, I knew you'd laugh!" Lizzie added, turning away from him and gazing back out of his car window.

"Honey, I'm not laughing. I feel the same way. At least we're going to have each other at college, right?"

"Right. I wish Miranda was going there, too."

"Me too. But we'll keep in touch. We've all got plans for our futures and sometimes that means we have to go to different places to figure them out."

"What are your plans?"

"You know what my plans are." Lizzie shot a questioning look at him, and he continued. "I want to get out of college, give directing a shot, and marry you. I thought you knew all that."

"Well, I didn't know about the last part," Lizzie blushed.

"Really? That's funny…that's the most important part of my plan." Lizzie laughed.

"I love you, Gordo."

"Love you too, Liz. Love you too."

LM LM LM LM LM

A few scented candles filled the room with a bitter-sweet smell. The living room was dark except for the flickering light of the TV. Two lumps were sprawled out on the couch; these two lumps were Lizzie and Gordo, asleep in each other's arms. Lizzie stirred in her sleep, cuddling closer to her boyfriend. "Gordo, I'm cold." She murmured, tucking some blonde hair behind her ear.

"The heater's broken," Gordo replied, sounding quite drunk due to the fact that he was half-awake. He reached onto the floor and picked up the blanket that they had kicked while dozing. He fiddled with it for several moments before giving up and discarding the tangled fabric.

"I should really go home." Lizzie said, making no effort to get up.

"Yeah, let's go. I'll give you a ride." He sat up and rubbed his eyes.

"Jeez, you're even responsible when you're half-awake." Lizzie nuzzled her head into Gordo's chest, trying to get comfortable.

"You mentioned it, not me. I was perfectly content."

"What time is it?"

Gordo glanced at the VCR clock. "12:09."

"Mmmmm. I'm 10 minutes late for curfew."

"Oh, yeah. I'm sure that won't make your dad happy."

"Oh gosh, I didn't think about him. Okay, I'm up." Lizzie stood up and looked for her shoes. On the way to the front door, Lizzie quickly fixed her distraught hair; best not to risk giving her dad any ideas.

LM LM LM LM LM

After a good-night kiss with Gordo, Lizzie snuck in through the front door, trying to avoid her parents.

"Lizzie, is that you?" Her mother called from the living room. Lizzie grimaced and backtracked into the living room.

"Yeah. Hey, Mom, Dad."

"Where were you?" Sam asked, sounding quite worried.

"Gordo and I went to get food, and we got stuck in traffic. Sorry."

"How was the prom?" Jo asked, completely ignoring her husband's annoyed glares.

"It was wonderful, Mom. So…magical."

"I'm so glad, sweetheart."

"I'm gonna head up to bed, now. G'night, Mom, Dad."

"Night, honey."

LM LM LM LM LM

The sun shining in her eyes woke Lizzie up. She rubbed at her hazel eyes and stretched, ready to spend her Saturday with her best friend and boyfriend. She walked down the stairs to get the paper and check the weather (as was her daily routine). Down on the porch, a small envelope had been left.

_Lizzie McGuire_, it read. Lizzie stooped to pick it up. Opening it, she immediately regretted ever coming downstairs. Ever waking up. _Ever being born._

_WATCH OUT. WE KNOW WHERE YOU ARE. _

**A/N: Okay, here's the first chapter. Tell me if you want more. PLEASE REVIEW! I LIVE FOR THOSE THINGS! :P This is just getting the story started, sorry it was slow. **

**Till next time, Lucy**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Okay, I'm alive! Here's the second chapter. MY OTHER STORY WILL BE UPDATED TONIGHT. **

Lizzie stared at the letter, her hands shaking. Her first instinct was to call Gordo, but it was only 7:00 AM on a Saturday. He would be tucked beneath the covers still. Miranda wouldn't be up, either. She ran inside clutching the paper and the envelope, up to her room where she dove under the covers and hid. It was probably only a prank, but frankly that didn't make Lizzie feel any better. She couldn't recognize the handwriting, and she hadn't seen anyone come or go from the house. Matt couldn't have gotten downstairs to put it there because he had been vomiting all week. Finally, Lizzie knew she had to do something or she would go insane. She reached her arms out from under the cover and picked up her cell phone from the end table. She flipped it open and dialed Gordo's number.

After ringing a few times, Gordo picked up and said, "Hello?" He had definitely been asleep.

"Gordo?"

"Liz? What's wrong?"

She responded by sniffling.

"LIZZIE. Tell me what's wrong, honey."

After Lizzie had managed to explain her whole situation, Gordo said, "I'll be right there."

Ten minutes later, there was a knock at the front door. Lizzie left her bed long enough to let Gordo inside. He followed her upstairs, where Lizzie promptly shut and locked her door (just in case) and wrapped her arms around Gordo.

"It's probably just some stupid joke." Gordo assured Lizzie, stroking her hair.

"Well, it's not very funny."

"You'll be fine."

"Promise?"

Gordo almost made a smart-mouth remark about how he didn't control the universe but that he sure hoped she'd be okay, but decided that a simple "yes" sounded better.

"Will you stay with me for a while, Gordo?" Lizzie asked, nuzzling into him.

"Yeah, but I'm starving. What do you say we go downstairs and make some pancakes?"

"Chocolate chip?" Lizzie whined like a little child.

"Sure." Gordo chuckled.

LM LM LM LM LM

Ten minutes later, Lizzie was sitting at the table watching Gordo flip pancakes onto a plate. She knew she had played the letter thing up a little, but hey, every girl needs to feel pampered once in a while.

"Did you have a good time last night?" Gordo asked, sitting down and putting pancakes onto Lizzie's plate.

"Yes." Lizzie smiled.

"Did I do everything right? I mean, I know these things are really important to girls, and I tried to make sure my tux and the corsage matched your dress and everything…" Gordo babbled, making gestures with a fork. Lizzie silenced him by shoving a piece of pancake into his open mouth.

"Ssh," she said, "everything was absolutely perfect. And I would have still had a great time last night even if the flowers hadn't matched my dress. All I wanted was you, okay?"

Gordo swallowed. "Okay," he leaned across the table and placed a soft kiss on her lips. Lizzie smiled against his lips.

LM LM LM LM LM

"What do you guys wanna do?" Miranda asked, reaching for the popcorn bowl. No reply. Miranda glanced to her left where Gordo and Lizzie were cuddling on the other end of the couch. "If you guys keep doing that, I'm gonna leave," Miranda added. She, Lizzie, and Gordo still liked to spend Saturdays together as best friends, but Lizzie and Gordo sometimes forgot that Miranda was there, too.

"I'm sorry," Lizzie said, stealing one more kiss and scooting off of Gordo's lap. "Mall?" Lizzie suggested.

"Coolie." Miranda said, grabbing her purse.

"Do I get a say in this?" Gordo asked.

"No," Lizzie and Miranda said in unison.

After about an hour in the mall, Gordo couldn't take anymore. "Can I _please _see if Keith wants to meet us here?"

"Why? So you two can suffer together?" Lizzie smirked. Gordo nodded. "Go ahead."

As Gordo went outside the store to make the call, Lizzie plopped her purse down on a bench and headed off to the clearance rack. A few minutes later, Lizzie turned to look for her purse. It was in a different position than it had been. Not thinking anything of it, Lizzie picked up her purse and went to pay for the jeans she had selected. In line, Gordo snuck up behind Lizzie and wrapped his arms around her. "I love you," he whispered into his ear.

"Mm, I love you, too." Lizzie leaned into him.

"What are you getting?" Gordo asked, pulling away from the comfortable embrace.

"These two pairs of jeans," Lizzie responded, holding them up.

"You'll look great in them."

"Kiss up," Lizzie slapped his arm playfully.

"Is it working?" They both laughed.

At the counter, Lizzie pulled out her wallet to pay. She counted out some cash and handed it over to the checker.

"You dropped this, sweetheart." Gordo said, handing her a slip of paper.

"Thanks." She unfolded it, not remembering quite what it was.

_WATCH YOUR BACK._

"Gordo," she said, her voice shaking.

"Yeah?" He turned to face her, and seeing her pale face and quivering hands, he rushed to her aid. "Honey, what is it?" She held up the letter. Reading it, Gordo took Lizzie up into a hug. This was going way beyond a joke, and it was really starting to scare her.

Miranda walked over, then, holding a new shirt. "Hey, you lovebirds," she said, tapping Gordo on the shoulder. She then saw how bad Lizzie looked. "What's wrong with her?" Miranda asked Gordo.

Gordo took a deep breath and began to explain the situation, Lizzie glancing over her shoulder the whole time.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Okay, I'm back! I checked out my story and realized I hadn't updated it in 10 days. Yikes! I'll be writing more this weekend, but probably not tomorrow. I have volleyball try-outs. They're only taking 10 girls in my whole town! Wish me luck; I've been working hard! Enjoy! Here are shout outs! ^^**

**bFishstix: Thank ya. I'm a sucker for LG fluff. ^^ Yes, they should have! Now we're left to wonder what would have happened after the movie. At least we can write fanfics about it! :P**

**jms5515: Thank youuu. :) Suspense is really fun to write.**

**Tomboy22: Lizzie is absolutely right about that! We are in agreement! :P Thank you. **

**Bubbles237: Thank you. Glad you enjoy. Keep reviewing, it keeps me motivated! :)**

**Elareforever: I don't think I've seen you review one of my stories before, so welcome! Glad you enjoy it! Here's your update! I always wanted to see them together, too. They should have gone out on the show. Stupid Disney Channel. -_-**

"That's…creepy." Miranda said, rubbing her arms as if trying to keep herself warm. In reality, she was trying to shake the scary mental images from her mind.

"I know…" Gordo shushed Lizzie and cuddled her.

"Um, kids?" All three teenagers turned to see the clerk holding up Lizzie's bag. "Here's your change," she added.

"Thank you," Gordo said, collecting everything. Miranda then paid for her clothes.

In the car on the way home, Lizzie didn't say a word. Gordo turned a corner to Miranda's house. "Miranda, do you mind if we drop you off? I need to talk to Lizzie. We'll call you later, okay?"

Miranda simply nodded and patted Lizzie on the shoulder before getting out. Lizzie sat patiently, waiting for Gordo to start the car, but he didn't. He instead sat there, trying to figure out what to say. "You want to go to Starbucks to talk? I'll buy you mocha. Your favorite."

"I'd rather stay here."

"Okay…Liz, do you think it's time to get your parents involved yet? I don't want you to be scared like this." He reached over the stick shift and put his hand on hers.

"I don't know, Gordo. I mean…do you still think it's just a prank?"

"It could be."

"Mmmm…but my parents will go all crazy and overly protective on us."

"If that's what they think keeps you safe."

"I don't know what to do…I don't know what I think, or what I want…"

"I know what _I _want."

"What's that?"

"For you to be safe. And I know that I'll take whatever steps need to be taken to keep you safe. If you need me to, I'll even beat up 12 guys twice my size all at once for you."

Lizzie laughed, "I think that'd be more like them beating _you _up, Gordo."

"Hey!"

She let go of his hand and pinched the flabby part of his arm, "You're not exactly a body-builder."

"Do you like guys like that?"

"No. I like guys like you."

"Good. 'Cause I'd hate to have to give up McDonald's."

Lizzie laughed again. "You always know how to make me feel better, don't you?"

"Yes, because I love you that much."

"I love you more."

"I doubt that, McGuire. Now come on. Graduation's in almost 3 hours and I know you'll want to get ready."

"I'm not that slow!" Gordo responded by rolling his eyes. "Gordo!"

He put the car into drive and dropped Lizzie off. "Call me if…anything else happens, okay?"

"Of course, sweetheart," she said, pecking his cheek, and he pulled her in for a more passionate kiss.

"Mom!" Lizzie shouted from her room a few minutes later. "I have _nothing _to go with these!" Jo came in to see Lizzie gesturing wildly to her new jeans.

Jo sighed. "Lizzie, Gordo and Miranda will be here soon! Just pick something! How about this?"

"Mom, that's so last year! And I wore that to the Christmas dance last year. I _cannot _have another fashion repeat!" She shuddered remembering her junior high graduation. "And I'm supposed to wear something special. I'm graduating _high school._"

"I know, and I just can't believe how fast you're growing up!" Jo exclaimed, pulling her 17 year oold daughter into a hug.

"Mooom," Lizzie gasped, "I can't breathe."

"Sorry, honey. Anyway, how about this pink sweater?"

"Oh, I didn't see that," Lizzie took the sweater into her hands and examined it. "It's fantastic! Thanks, Mom!"

"No problem, honey." Jo turned and left the room. A few minutes later, Lizzie was finishing up her makeup when Gordo came in. He snuck over to his girlfriend and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Feel better?" He asked.

Lizzie gasped, surprised. "Gordo! I could have been changing!"

"And that would have been really bad, right?" He responded, sarcastically.

"Pervert!" Lizzie laughed, reaching for a pillow and throwing it at him. He attempted to throw it back, but Lizzie grabbed it from him and stuck out a fake pouty-lip. "Don't. You'll mess up my hair."

Gordo imitated her face and flopped backwards onto the bed. "Resume whatever you were doing when I walked in."

"Thank you," Lizzie said, already back at the mirror.

"But we do have to go soon." He urged, tapping on the face of his watch.

"Okay, okay."

"David Gordon, our valedictorian," the principal said, stepping down from the podium.

Gordo took a deep breath to steady his nerves and began. "When we all walked through these doors four years ago, I don't think any of us thought that time would go by so quickly. In these four short years, we've seen people come and go, hearts being broken and new friendships start. This hasn't just a place for academics; it's also been a place to learn about ourselves. And now it's time to leave and step into a whole new world, but we will never forget the people we've met and the things we've learned here at Hillridge High School. Thank you." **(A/N: Sorry that sucked…I've never had to write a graduation speech before :P)** The audience applauded and Gordo sat back down next to Lizzie. He rubbed his hands together nervously, and Lizzie put her hand on his knee to calm him. Names were called, and the whole night seemed to go by in a blur. Really, the only thing Lizzie remembered was that she didn't knock anything over or fall once; a great achievement for her.

"Lizzie," Gordo said, heading over to his girlfriend. "I have to leave with my parents. I love you."

"I love you, too. G'night." She placed a kiss on his lips.

Lizzie stood with Miranda, chit chatting for a while longer until her parents came over. "Honey, we're going to go home and head to bed. Be home by midnight."

"Okay." Lizzie turned to Miranda, "can I hitch a ride with you?"

"Of course! But I'm gonna go find Keith, okay?" Lizzie nodded and watched her friend walk off into the crowd. Taking one last look around her high school, she decided to head outside for some fresh air. A few stars twinkled and shivered overhead, lighting up the sky. Lizzie wished for smooth sailing through college on the biggest one. Wind tugged at her blonde hair and the leaves in the trees shook with her. All was calm; a rare thing in Lizzie's life. All of a sudden she felt a hand slap over her mouth, firm arms squeezing her.

"Don't scream," a male voice instructed from behind Lizzie. That's when she blacked out.

**A/N: Sorry that was a kind of dull chapter until the end…it was short, too. I've been really busy all day, though and now I have a headache. I just wanted to get a chapter up. Next will be better, I promise. Review, please! **


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Hey, I have no homework! That gave me a ton of time to write! Yay! I am also happy to tell you that I have 2 chapters done for my Xmas story already! And they're both looooong. Check the story out when I post it on the first of December! Also, I tried to do that division bar thingy between scenes last time, but it didn't work. So I'm back to separating scenes with 5 LM's. :) I also found a typo in my last chapter. I wrote, "'I love you,' Gordo whispered into **_**his **_**ear." Woops! I don't think I need to go and take the whole chapter down and put it into edit, though. We all know whose ear he's whispering in. ;) **

**Boris Yeltsin: You made me laugh, lol. Thanks for reviewing!**

**Bubbles2337: Cliff hangers are so fun to write! :P Thank you. Here's your update! **

**Tomboy22: Yeah, haha I found that sweet, too. Aren't **_**all **_**guys perverts? Lol. But cliff hangers are so fun to writeeee. Okay, fine, I'll update. Here you go. **

**River Tam: Thank you for reviewing! Yeah, sorry about the delay there, lol. I'm at a new school this year and the homework's crazy. That means no time for fanfiction on most days. :( I'm glad you like! Here's your update. BTW, you are rocking your story "Star of David!" It's epic and I can't wait for your next update! :) Also, I've gone through and read your other LM stories. They're all fantastic and I hope you finish them this year! **

"Gordo?" Miranda spoke into the phone, her voice shaking.

"Miranda?" He asked, not noticing the tone in her voice. "Do you know what time it is? 11:30!"

"I-I know…"

"Are you okay?"

"It's Lizzie," she began sobbing into the phone.

"Miranda, what's wrong with Lizzie? MIRANDA? Tell me what happened!"

"I came outside to find her, and she was lying on the ground…she's unconscious…"

Gordo couldn't for the life of him figure out why Miranda had called _him _and not 911, but that emotion was soon overcome by grief. "Call 911. I'm on my way," he said, already scrawling a note to his parents.

LM LM LM LM LM

Gordo, living right around the corner from the school, got there before an ambulance. He got out of the car and ran over to a crying Miranda. He found it strange that people could pass on by, so oblivious to the mini soap-opera tragedy that was going on in the middle of the sidewalk. Gordo quickly gave Miranda a reassuring pat on the back and grabbed Lizzie's wrist, feeling for her pulse. She had one. He leaned down close to her face to listen for breathing. She was. His first aid classes he had taken in Jr. High had finally paid off, and Gordo figured that she had fainted from shock. But what had scared her so badly?

An ambulance came zooming around the corner and onto the lawn of the school, right next to the trio. _Then _people stopped and stared. Gordo watched the paramedics load Lizzie onto a stretcher, then drive away. He and Miranda got in his car and drove to the hospital. It wasn't until they had been driving for a good 10 minutes that Gordo finally spoke. "Thank you for calling me."

Miranda sniffled. "No problem."

"I think she's going to be fine. She had a pulse and was breathing." Gordo then reached over and took Miranda's hand in a comforting gesture.

"Are you sure?"

Gordo pushed aside his logical thoughts (he could never really be _positively sure_ about anything) and said, "I'm pretty sure."

At the hospital, they were escorted into the emergency waiting room, where they sat together playing cards to pass the time _and _keep their nerves down. It wasn't until the doctor came out to speak to them that Gordo realized someone needed to call the McGuire's. He made a mental note to do it in a little bit. "Mr. Gordon?" The doctor asked, pulling out his file on Lizzie.

"Yes, sir?"

"She'll be just fine. She fainted from shock. If I were you, I'd talk to her later, see if you can pinpoint why exactly she blacked out, okay? I do need you to see if you can contact a family member of Miss McGuire that is at least 18 so they can come sign her release forms."

"Will do."

"Thank you. Check in with the front desk when you're done calling people."

Gordo turned to Miranda, who seemed to be hypnotized by the deck of cards in her hands. "Miranda?" Gordo said. "She's going to be fine."

Miranda nodded. "I heard," she whispered.

"Well, aren't you happy?"

"Of course, Gordo. She's my best friend."

"You don't look happy."

"I'm still just a little shook up is all."

He patted her back, "I'm sure you'll be fine in a little bit. That _was _quite the scare."

"Yeah."

Gordo dialed the McGuire's home number into his cell phone. No answer. He tried Matt's cell phone with the same bad luck. He didn't have any other numbers to try. He walked up to the front desk. "Ma'am? I'm here for Elizabeth McGuire, but I can't get ahold of any of her family members."

"Who are you?" The nurse asked, apparently ready to go home and fall into bed.

"Her boyfriend."

"How old are you?"

"18."

"Close enough to a family member." She held out some forms. Apparently the emergency nurses got sloppy around midnight. Gordo skimmed through the forms and signed them all. "I will need a FOP," the nurse reminded Gordo.

"A FOP?"

"Form of Payment."

"Oh, oh…how much?"

"$150."

"What? She was only here 45 minutes!"

"That's the ambulance and normal emergency fee."

Gordo fished out his wallet and slapped a debit card down on the counter. "Charge it," he said; he had always wanted to say that. It was one of those things that looked cool in movies, along with getting into a cab and saying "follow that car!" The nurse looked at him like he was crazy, but entered the card number anyway. "May I visit Lizzie?" Gordo asked.

"Yeah. Room 102."

"Thank you." Gordo turned around. Miranda was gone. He figured she had left in search of the bathroom, and Gordo headed down the hall. He stepped into room 102 and looked at Lizzie. Even though she was in a hospital gown with tubes up her nose for extra oxygen support, she looked drop dead gorgeous to him.

"Hi," she said, holding out her hand. He went over and took it into his own.

"Hi, sweetheart," he said.

She laughed, despite the situation. "I'm sorry I caused such a hassle."

"It's no hassle. This is your health we're talking about."

She snorted. "I'm fine. Other than the fact that this is a major fashion crisis, here."

"You're gorgeous."

"I bet," she said, blowing her hair out of her eyes. She turned to look at him. "Did you know that I love you?"

"That was random. But thank you, I love you too." Gordo leaned down and kissed Lizzie.

"Oh my gosh. I completely forgot about my parents! They're probably worried sick!"

"I tried to call them, but they didn't answer."

"When am I allowed to leave?"

"Pretty soon, I guess. Want me to go ask?"

"Would you, honey?"

"Of course," he said, and headed off in search of a nurse. A moment later, Gordo returned. "The doctor's coming in and then you can leave."

"Nice to see you're with us, Elizabeth," The doctor said as he entered the room. Lizzie tried not to cringe at the use of her formal name. "Let's just do a final examination and get you out of here." Gordo was asked to leave the room, so he went off in search of Miranda. She was back at her spot on the waiting room couch, TV remote in hand, nervously flipping through the channels.

"Miranda," Gordo called. She turned to him. "They're doing a final examination and then we can leave."

"You visited her?"

"Yeah. I looked for you, but you were gone. I thought maybe you went to go find the bathroom."

Just then, Lizzie came trotting out of the hospital in her pink sweater, blue jeans, and Converse sneakers. She was running her fingers through her hair as if they were a brush. "Hey, guys," she said. When she saw how scared Miranda still looked, Lizzie hugged her. "Don't worry. I'm not going anywhere," she said, holding her best friend tight.

LM LM LM LM LM

Lizzie woke up the next morning to an empty house. Her parents and Matt had gone out to breakfast to celebrate the first Sunday of summer vacation (and the fact that Matt had finally gotten over his flu). They had been pretty mad when Lizzie came home an hour late last night. But after she and Gordo had explained everything, most of the anger was gone and they were just glad that Lizzie was okay. Lizzie had felt guilty, though, and opted to stay home this morning. She turned and looked out the window. It was only 9:00; much too early to get up. Just as she rolled over, the doorbell rang. Figuring it was Gordo, Lizzie got up just long enough to open her window and yell, "It's open," before falling back into bed. A minute later, Gordo was standing in his girlfriend's doorway, arms folded, watching her trying to sleep. He smiled and curled up on the bed next to Lizzie, taking her up in his arms.

They cuddled in silence for a minute until Gordo said, "Liz, honey, I need to talk to you about something." He was reluctant to interrupt the moment, but knew he had to find out what had happened last night.

"Mhmm?" Lizzie sat up, trying to shake the sleepy feeling out of her body.

"What happened to make you faint last night?"

"Gordo, no. I don't want to talk about it." She shook her head.

"Sweetheart, I have to know. I want to keep you safe."

"I'm fine."

"No, you're not. What happened?"

"Gordo, just stop, okay? I don't want to talk about it yet."

Gordo knew he should have stopped there, but he kept pressing; a great mistake. "Honey, even the doctor said that I should try and find out what happened. I just don't want you to get hurt, and-''

"God damn it, Gordo! I said I don't want to talk yet! Just get the hell out of here…I need to be alone." Gordo flinched at her rather strong use of language. Lizzie hardly ever swore.

"Liz-''

"LEAVE, GORDO! Leave…just leave."

And that was what he did. He left and didn't call her for the rest of the day.

LM LM LM LM LM

"Gordo!" Lizzie called out. She had just parked her car in front of his house. Perfect timing, too; Gordo was just coming out of the house.

"Yeah?" He asked. What was she doing there. It was his first Monday of freedom and he had planned on enjoying it, not stand in his driveway talking to someone who got mad when offered help.

"I'm sorry. I never should have yelled at you like that. I was just…" she shook her head and took a deep breath. "What happened just scared me, is all. I've seen stuff like that in movies but never in real life."

"Did someone hurt you?" Gordo replied, trying to push down the worry he felt arising. He was supposed to be mad at Lizzie, not be worried about her.

"No," little tears began to slide down her cheeks. "Someone came up behind me while I was outside. He put his hand over my mouth and told me not to scream. Then I fainted."

"And they just left after that?"

"They took the cash out of my pocket. It was only 10 bucks, though. I'm just glad they didn't beat me up or something."

"Me too," he held out his arms and she walked into them. "I can never stay mad at you for long," he whispered.

"I know," she played and pulled out of his grip.

"Honey, I think it's time to get your parents involved in this, though."


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: I'm home sick. -_- At least I can write. Sorry if it's a little screwy, my mind's all over the place. :P I think this is the quickest I've ever updated, though! Yay!**

"No, nuh-uh." Lizzie shook her head vigorously.

"Why not?" Gordo sighed. He was getting tired of all these games.

"I think you're right, it's probably just a prank," she sounded like she was trying to convince herself rather than Gordo.

"Lizzie, whoever this guy is, he's obviously serious! He _grabbed _you. You don't find that serious?" He touched her cheek gingerly. "I love you with all my heart, Liz, but what if I'm not around when something happens? He could decide to do more than steal 10 bucks. I want to know that you're safe."

"I can take care of myself."

"Not in a situation like this."

"I am a _very _independent person, Gordo."

"So am I, but I would get help in this situation. Everyone needs help sometime."

"Listen…let's compromise. If this guy tries something one more time, we'll talk to my parents, okay?"

Gordo wasn't happy with this plan but knew it was better than nothing. "Okay."

"Good. Now, it's my birthday tomorrow. I want to spend it with you."

"What time should I be at your house?"

She reached up and kissed him. "Anytime."

"Okay. I have some errands to run, so…" he gestured to his car.

"Oh, okay." She kissed him again, longer and more passionately this time. "I love you."

"I love you, too. Happy early birthday, sweetheart," Gordo replied, getting in his car.

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"May I see that one?" Gordo asked, gesturing to something inside the shiny display case.

"Yes, sir." The attendant reached for the piece of jewelry and placed it on a sheet of velvet to keep it from scratching the glass.

Gordo picked up the ring, turning it over and over in his hands. "It's perfect. I'll take it," he said, handing it back over to the attendant.

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The next day at about noon, Gordo found himself going over to Lizzie's house with the ring box jingling in his pocket.

"Happy birthday!" He exclaimed once she had opened the door.

"Thank you," she said, walking into his open arms and kissing him. "You just wanna hang out and watch some movies for a while?"

"Sure, but we have to leave at 5:30."

"Why?"

"I made some dinner reservations."

"Really? Oh, that's so sweet!"

"Only the best on your birthday."

As the two curled up on the family room couch, Gordo felt nervousness building. What had he been thinking buying that ring? Lizzie's voice snapped him out of his thoughts. "Gordo?"

"Yeah, honey?"

"Why do you always forgive me, no matter what I do?"

The answer was simple. "Because I love you."

"I love you, too, but I don't think I could forgive you for _anything_."

Gordo thought about that. "If you love me as much as you say you do, I think you would forgive me for anything. I've tried to not forgive you before, but I can't fight away that feeling of love for you. So I just keep hoping you'll never hurt me again."

"You make me sound like a terrible person."

"No, a great person. No one's perfect, but if you can make someone love you no matter what, you have some talent, McGuire."

She laughed, "I'm happy you feel that way. Gordo, do you think we'll ever get married someday?" She could feel his body tense up next to her, but thought nothing of it.

"Yeah, yeah…of course. Now, sssh, we're missing the movie."

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She looked gorgeous. Her red dress showed off her curves perfectly…in fact, everything looked perfect right then. Her hair was _perfectly _curled, her makeup was _perfectly _applied, and she had a _perfect _smile on her face. Gordo, on the contrary, was wearing a collared shirt with slacks…and tennis shoes. No matter, though, they both looked perfect to each other. And they were off.

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The corner booth at Lizzie's favorite Italian restaurant was perfect, too. Everything had been perfect, and Gordo sure hoped he wouldn't screw it up. After dinner, they went for a walk in the park. The park where Gordo and Lizzie had gone on their first date. It had been a picnic. And it had been perfect, too.

Lizzie shivered against Gordo and he rubbed her arms in a feeble attempt to keep her warm. "Gordo, you've been acting weird all night. What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"You know you can tell me anything, right?"

"Yeah, of course."

"Good."

"Liz, can we stop here for a minute?" He gestured to a bench.

"Sure," she took his hand and pulled him over to the bench.

"There's no easy way to say this, so…I guess I'll just say it."

"Okay."

He opened his mouth to say one thing, but his brain had a different idea. "I got accepted to NYU." _What the hell was that? _Gordo mentally slapped himself in the face. _No, _he thought, _you were supposed to propose, you idiot!_

"Really? Gordo, that's great! I'm so happy for you, sweetheart!" She threw her arms around his neck and tried her best to sound happy. Which was the exact opposite of how she felt.

"I'm not going."

"What? Gordo, you have to go! They have such a great film department!"

"I know. But maybe that's not what I want anymore." _Perfect time to propose…do it!_ Gordo told himself.

"What _do _you want?"

"You." _PROPOSE! _

She smiled warmly. "Well, I can send an application to them if you want. They might accept me."

"No, I'd rather just stay here and go to UCLA with you."

"I don't want you to give up your dream for me."

"Well, UCLA has a pretty good film department, too."

"But you won't settle for 'pretty good,' Gordo. You never have."

They were silent for a while. "Liz?"

"Yes?"

"Can we go? I'm getting kind of cold."

"Sure. I have to be home in an hour, anyway."

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As they kissed goodnight and Lizzie got out of the car, Gordo felt tears sting his eyes. "Don't cry," he told himself as he drove away, "it won't make anything better."

All that Gordo knew was that he had chickened out. She would have probably said 'yes,' but he had to go and let his nerves get the best of him. _Chicken._

Little did he know that something big was happening right then. Something that would change their lives forever. Lizzie was opening another note.

**A/N: Okay, I know that was short and just a bunch of really quick scenes, but I knew where I was going with this chapter and couldn't think of any better way to get there. I AM POSTING A SONGFIC. I know I said that a while ago and then never posted anything, (in fact, I never actually finished writing it) but this time I'm serious! I'm going to go write it right now! It's called "My Wish." Please R&R it! **


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Hey, guys! I'm back! Nothing major to say, so…here's the next chapter! Enjoy and please keep those reviews coming! PLEASE check out "Star of David" by River Tam. It is freakin' amazing! **

_YOU AND YOUR BOYFRIEND DON'T HAVE MUCH TIME LEFT. _

Much time left for what? Much time left together? Much time left at _all_? Questions zoomed through Lizzie's mind, and she had to sit down to stop the dizzying sensation. She picked up the phone and dialed Gordo's number. "Gordo?"

"Hey, Liz…are you okay?"

"I-I'm not sure."

"What?"

"I got another note…"

"I'll be right over." Five minutes later, Gordo was back at Lizzie's house. They were both sitting on Lizzie's bed, contemplating the note. "I just don't get it," Gordo said.

"Do you think they want to break us up?"

"I really don't know, Liz."

"Well, if they do, I won't let them! Nothing can pull me away from you," she said, nuzzling closer to Gordo.

Gordo chuckled, "That's some pretty big talk for such a little lady." Lizzie stuck her tongue out.

"I'm getting tired," she said. She fell back onto the bed dramatically.

"I guess I'll see you in the morning, then?"

"No, stay for a little longer. Please?"

"Alright. Since you asked so nicely." Gordo curled up next to Lizzie. Soon all four eyes were closed, and the two teenagers were off in "dream-land." **(A/N: That's my fave place to be! Lol) **

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The sun shone through Lizzie's window, causing Gordo to awaken. He sat up. "Stop moving, Gordo," Lizzie whined, half awake.

"Crap," Gordo said, rubbing his eyes. "I've been here all night. My parents are probably worried sick."

"Oh, yeah. Them," Lizzie said, sitting up as well.

Gordo laughed. "I gotta go, sweetheart. I'll call you later?"

"Okay. Love you."

"I love you, too."

Later that day, Gordo was walking around downtown; he had nothing else to do. As he stopped to glance in a bookstore window, a man came up behind him. "Gordo?" The man asked.

"Hey," Gordo said, turning around. "Umm, do I know you?"

"Of course you do! Don't you remember me?"

"Umm…"

The man changed the subject quickly, "How's Lizzie? You two still together?"

"Yeah," Gordo said, thinking he _must _know this guy from somewhere. "She's good. Just had her birthday yesterday."

"Really? Oh, you kids are growing up so fast." Gordo thought that a strange comment, considering this guy couldn't be over 22 himself. "So what are you out shopping for? Late birthday present for Liz?"

"No, no. I'm just wandering."

"She turned 18, right? What'd you get her? That's a big birthday."

"I took her out to dinner, and…and I was going to propose. But I chickened out."

A grave look came over the man's face. He ran a hand through his beard thoughtfully. "It's a good thing you _did _chicken out."

"Why?"

"You kids are so young…it would have ended in divorce, anyway."

"Oh, well we've been dating since we were 15. That's a long time…I'm going to propose when I get my courage back."

"That's a long time for high school kids, I suppose. Well, I best be going. Tell Lizzie I said 'hi'."

"Will do. Have a nice day."

"You too, kid. You too." The man left and got into a Ford truck.

"Who the hell are you?" Gordo mumbled under his breath. "And why were you in such a hurry to leave?"

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"Lizzie! Your father and I are leaving for the airport. Come say goodbye!" Jo yelled up the stairs. She and Sam were about to leave on business for 3 days. Lizzie came bounding down the stairs.

"Bye, Mom." She gave her mother a kiss. "Have fun!"

"We will. Remember, no friends in the house except Miranda and Gordo. And take care of Matt. Try to put aside your differences for a while. Please?"

"Since when have I had problems with Weasel Boy?" Lizzie rolled her eyes sarcastically.

Jo sighed. "I love you." She patted Lizzie's shoulder. "Matt, come say goodbye!"

"Bye!" came the muffled reply from Matt's room. Jo rolled her eyes.

"Sam, let's go." Sam came into the room and said goodbye to Lizzie. When they had left, Matt came downstairs, iPod in hand, music booming from his headphones.

"I'm going to Melina's," the 14 year old practically screamed above the rap music.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Lizzie grabbed his headphone cord and Matt jerked to a stop. "I am in charge here. Therefore, you don't _tell _me you're going to Melina's, you _ask _me if you can go to Melina's. Got it?"

"I have news for ya, Liz. Mom and Dad are out of town. If you tell them I misbehaved, I'll tell them that Gordo slept over last night." Lizzie gaped. "And you wouldn't want that, would you?"

"That was completely innocent!"

"Right," Matt said, stretching out the word to show his disbelief. He raised an eyebrow.

"Ew! All clothing items stayed on! Gordo and I have _not _done that!"

"Maybe you have, maybe you haven't. I'm going to Melina's." He gestured to the door and left.

"Ew!" Lizzie shrieked again. She sighed and went to the phone. Miranda came over and they spent the night watching movies. The newest "Pirates of the Caribbean" was on.

"Johnny Depp is sooooo hot!" Miranda announced, reaching for the popcorn.

Lizzie laughed. To her, all Johnny Depp was was a stupid pirate. "What about Keith?"

"Things have been…difficult." Miranda sighed and shook her head.

"Want to talk about it?"

"He just never wants to spend time with me anymore. I'm thinking of dumping him."

"Aw, Miranda! I'm so sorry."

"It's okay, Liz. Maybe Keith and I just aren't meant to have that fairytale romance that you and Gordo have."

"Yeah…you'll find your 'Prince Charming' sometime." Lizzie bumped shoulders with her best friend.

"Yup. I have faith." The two girls laughed. Lizzie loved Gordo with all her heart, but she was grateful to have some girl-time with Miranda. She felt so content sitting in her living room, watching movies, surrounded by mounds and mounds of junk food. Yeah…life was good. Miranda couldn't sleep over, and left at about 11:00. Lizzie got a call from Matt to say that he needed a ride home from Melina's. She sighed and grabbed her car keys. Matt and Melina were the typical "on-again-off-again" teenage couple. Lizzie had had to pick Matt up from Melina's house so many times that she had the route memorized by now. She pulled up in front of the house and honked. Matt gave Melina a quick kiss goodbye and got in the car.

"I guess you and Melina are on right now?" Lizzie smiled.

Matt blushed. "I guess so."

"Don't feel bad. I remember what being your age was like. God, it feels like so long ago."

"Melina's 15th birthday is coming up. What do you think I should get her?"

"Jewelry. Every girl loves jewelry. Or perfume."

"Well, I did see this locket at the mall with Melina. She really liked it."

"Get it!"

"I don't have the money. My allowance is barely anything."

"You could always go work at the Digital Bean," Lizzie laughed, remembering her first job. "Or, you could help me out with my chores and I'll give you some cash."

"Really? You'd do that for me?"

"Yeah."

"Well, thanks, skunk breath."

"Welcome, Weasel Head." Lizzie smiled as they pulled into the driveway. She was happy to have peace with Matt again.

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Lizzie snuggled deeper under her warm covers. Sleep finally took over her mind, sweeping her into unconsciousness. She was completely unaware of the man prying her bedroom window open. She was also unaware that the man's friend was prying open Gordo's window at the same time.

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"Don't scream." A man instructed. Gordo could see that the man was holding up a knife, so he was happy to obey. "Stand up. No funny business." Gordo stood up. The man brought out silver duck-tape and wrapped it around Gordo's wrists, binding them together. He also put some over Gordo's mouth. "We're leaving." The man said. Gordo nodded slightly. He may have seemed calm, but inside he was _freaking out._ He was smart enough to not try anything, though. He didn't want to be killed. Gordo was lead out his bedroom window, across the lawn, and to a pickup truck. The man opened the door and roughly pushed Gordo into the backseat. The man got into the driver's seat and started the car. Gordo could vaguely recognize the houses they were zooming past at way above the speed limit, but he didn't truly realize what was happening until they stopped in front of Lizzie's house. The man parked and pulled Gordo out of the car. "Keep quiet," he instructed. They clumsily climbed the tree next to Lizzie's room and crawled in the window.

"Got him?" A voice whispered. Gordo squinted to see in the dim light. It was the man with the beard.

"Got 'em."

The bearded man went over the bed and tapped Lizzie on the shoulder. "Don't scream," he said as she awoke. He held up the knife. Gordo struggled to get out of the other man's grasp. The man with the bead took out his own roll of duck-tape and put it over Lizzie's mouth and wrists. He grabbed her arm and pulled her up. "Do you remember me, Gordo?" Gordo nodded. He was really starting to get scared for his life. "Good. Well, I don't like you and your family, Gordo. And now you and your girlfriend are gonna pay." He shoved Lizzie back onto the bed. He raised the knife to above her chest. Lizzie thought briefly about screaming, but her parents weren't home and she didn't want to put Matt in danger, too. She silently apologized for all the bad things she had ever done in her life. She silently told Miranda, Matt, Gordo and her parents goodbye. Just as the knife was about to plunge into her chest, Gordo pulled away from the man and made a mad dive across the room. He tackled the man off of Lizzie and kicked him. The other man stabbed him in the arm. Lizzie managed to knock the phone off of its cradle and hit speed dial 1 (which had been automatically preset to 911). She made muffled screaming noises to let the operator know that she was on the line.

"Hang on, I'm sending the police," the operator confirmed. Lizzie then flew across the room and tried to knock the men off of Gordo. As sirens came echoed down the street, the men reluctantly retreated down the tree, calling out that they would be back and to not tell the police anything.

The police banged on the front door. "Lizzie?" Matt called from his room. Lizzie picked up her pocket knife and placed it in her hand. She cut through the duck-tape and pulled the piece off her mouth.

"Matt!" she responded, thanking God she was still alive. "Stay in your room. Don't ask questions; I'll get the door." She turned to Gordo, "are you okay here for a minute?" He seemed to be in pain, but nodded anyway.

Lizzie dashed down the stairs. "Yes?" She asked, answering the door.

"There was a call to 911 from this address?" The officer asked.

"Really?" Lizzie tried to seem surprised. "I never called 911. Everything's fine. I'm sorry for the inconvenience."

Lizzie must have done a good job because the officer bought it. "Have a good night, ma'am."

Lizzie closed the door and rushed back up the stairs to Gordo. She gingerly worked all the duck-tape off of him and hugged him tight. "Oh my God, Gordo, are you all right?" She began to cry and the salty tears dampened her boyfriend's shirt.

"I'm fine, honey, are you all right?"

She nodded. "Omigosh, Gordo! You're bleeding!"

Gordo looked at his arm. "Well…that's worse than I thought."

"Let me take you to the hospital."

"It's not that bad, Liz."

"Yes, it is! Let's go. I don't want you to be hurt."

"Okay, fine. Fine, let's go."

Lizzie scribbled a note to Matt and taped it on his closed door. They got in Lizzie's car and zoomed over to the Emergency room.

"We seem to be making this our second home," Lizzie joked, trying to lighten the situation. She wiped at her tears and took Gordo's hand. They approached the front desk.

"Can I help you?" The nurse asked.

Gordo showed her his arm and explained that he wanted to get it checked out.

Lizzie and Gordo were sent into an examination room. "How on Earth did this happen?" The doctor asked right after he entered the room. The sight of Gordo's blood covered shirt was enough to tip him off on the situation, but he had never seen a cut _that _large.

Lizzie shot Gordo a look, and Gordo answered simply with, "Um, I'm not really sure."

"Take your shirt off, please." Gordo had trouble lifting his arm, and Lizzie and the doctor helped him with his shirt. "There we go. Now I can see it better." The doctor sanitized the wound and bandaged it. "Feel better, and come back in if anything concerns you."

Gordo signed the release forms and paid the fee. "Gordo," Lizzie said in the car, "Thank you. You tried to save me and I really appreciate it. I love you," she reached over and took his hand.

"I love you, too. And, Liz…honestly. _We need to tell your parents._ We almost lost our lives tonight."


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Hey, guys. I'm sick again. -_- When am I gonna get better? :P Oh, well, at least I don't have a headache this time, so I can write more. :) I forgot to do shout outs last time! So this time, all of yours are twice as long as normal! ^^**

**Littlemick: Welcome! Thank you for reviewing! Your story is really great and I hope to see an update soon! Enjoy this chapter!**

**River Tam: bFishstix said the same thing about Miranda…I guess you'll just have to wait and see! I didn't even think of those guys! XD Oh, the memories you just brought back with that! No problem! That plug only took a second, and your story needs to be discovered! ^^ Enjoy this chapter! **

**Bubbles237: You'll just have to wait and see! Mwahahah! Well…actually, to be completely honest, I don't quite know what they did yet. I'll come up with something! And thank you! I take great pride in my cliffhangers! :P Enjoy this chapter!**

**bFishstix: :O Do you like it? This truly is where the story begins. :) And yes, poor Gordo. Things will look up for him, though! And, btw, I loved the LM video you made to "Good Life." It was really super cute! ^^ **

**Boris Yeltsin: I thought it was time to get some Matt in there! Glad you liked it. :) You'll find out who they were eventually. Just not in this chapter. ^^ I know, right? So much for proposing! Guess what I found out! There's a guy named Boris Yeltsin coming to my town! I thought of you right away, lol. Enjoy this chapter!**

**Tomboy22: CHICKEN! Yeah, though, that can be a scary thing. (I've never proposed to anyone…it's just kinda common knowledge ^^) Yes, he better ask next time! Here's your update! Enjoy! **

**Okay, guys, I know that I just used 322 words on shout-outs, but the chapter will be long, I promise! Plus your reviews mean so much to me, and I want to thank you all! And I'm really shy in real life, so I guess I like to talk a lot when I get behind a keyboard. Anyway, here's the very looooong chapter I promised you! Enjoy! **

Gordo folded his shirts. He was leaving today. For NYU. _This is the start of the rest of my life, _he thought, _I can leave everything behind and start over. _His talk with Lizzie on the car ride home last night hadn't ended well, and instead of kissing goodnight, they were screaming and slamming car doors. Gordo kicked his door as he remembered the break up. Well, it wasn't really a break up; they had never ended their relationship, but Gordo was still leaving town and flying 2000 miles across the United States. And he sure as heck wasn't going to come back. But he had to say goodbye. Gordo picked up his cell phone and dialed the McGuire's home number.

"Hello?" Matt asked.

"Matt?"

"Yeah…who's this?"

"It's Gordo."

"Oh," Matt sounded slightly disappointed. "Are you looking for my sister?"

"No! Actually, can you just give her a message for me?"

"Sure. Shoot."

"Tell her I'm leaving for NYU in an hour and a half…and tell her goodbye and thanks for everything."

"Are you telling me to break up with Lizzie for you? 'Cause that's really lame."

"Just tell her, Matt," Gordo said. Yes, he knew how lame he had sounded, but Matt didn't need to point it out. "And bye to you, too, buddy."

"Bye, Gordo," Matt hung up the phone, confused. What had happened between Gordo and his sister? "Uh, Lizzie," he called up the stairs, "I have something to tell you…"

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"Bye, Mom. I'll call when I get there," Gordo said, trying unsuccessfully to wriggle out of his mother's grasp. She just kept hugging him.

"Oh, my baby boy's leaving for college," she said, finally letting go and wiping her tears.

"I'll be fine, Mom." Gordo then turned to his dad and they shook hands. "See you, Dad."

"Son," Howard said, "Have a nice trip."

"I will." And then he was gone. That had been quicker than he thought it would be. In fact, he was surprised he wasn't feeling any nostalgia…he didn't feel any nostalgia until he reached into his pocket and found the engagement ring, that is. Then leaving was a whole lot tougher than he thought. But he headed to the airport anyway, as if some invisible magnet was pulling him there.

He walked to the Delta Airlines counter to pick up his boarding pass and then walked towards security.

"GORDO!"

Gordo turned around at the sound of his voice, but didn't see anyone he knew. "I'm delusional," he whispered to himself, and continued forward.

"GORDO, PLEASE! WAIT!"

Gordo turned around again. There was Lizzie, running towards him, blonde hair flying. She finally caught up, out of breath. "Gordo, where are you going?"

"Didn't Matt tell you?"

"Yes, but you can't just dump me over the phone and then expect me to be perfectly fine with it."

"I'm going to New York. For college."

"Didn't you say we were going to go to UCLA together?"

"Well, people change their minds, Liz."

"Oh," she inhaled deeply, blinking rapidly to keep herself from crying. "But, why?"

He hated to see her cry…but there was no turning back now. "I almost died for you last night, Liz."

"I know. And I owe you my life, Gordo."

"So you _do _see the urgency of this situation. So, why do you still refuse to get help?"

"Gordo…"

"No, Liz. I only help people who try to help themselves. I need a break." He nervously ran his hands through his hair.

"A-a break from me?"

"Yeah…a break from us."

She sniffled, wiping at her already smeared mascara. "I see."

"I'm sorry?"

"No. Don't be," she started to sound a little more forceful.

He leaned down and kissed her. But it wasn't an "I love you, see you soon" kind of kiss; it was a quick, fearful "goodbye" peck on the lips. Then he turned and left Lizzie standing there alone in the middle of the airport.

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Three weeks had passed. Lizzie had spent most of the time alone in her room, listening to music. "If this Was a Movie" by Taylor Swift became her theme song. She even took up reading romance novels to put a little romantic hope back in her mind.

Once, Miranda came over. She ripped the ear buds out of her best friend's ears, and closed her book. "Lizzie! This is _ridiculous_! You have been sitting here, sulking, for like…a month! Get a life!"

"Miranda, you're not the one who got dumped over the phone, and then when you asked why, he practically said that he was tired of you."

"You know…you still never told me why he did that."

"Forget it."

"Okay…come on." Miranda grabbed Lizzie's hand.

"What?"

"We're going out. We're gonna get you to be happy again."

"Miranda, please, no."

"Come on. A little mingling can't hurt. There's this hot new club downtown, and you only have to be 18 to get in because there's no alcohol. It'll be fun!"

Lizzie sighed. "Miranda, I'm really not ready. I dated Gordo for three years…I can't just bounce back from this that quickly."

"Okay," Miradna sighed and handed Lizzie her book.

"Thanks. I knew you'd understand."

"Yeah, yeah." The two girls were silent for a moment. "Hey, did you hear that Ethan Craft is single again?"

Lizzie rolled her eyes. "Miranda, that was a stupid middle school crush. I mean, let's face it: Ethan Craft's a few cans short of a six pack. In fact, I think he's _six _cans short of a six pack."

Miranda giggled, "Yeah, I guess you're right. He certainly hasn't gotten any smarter since middle school."

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"The rent's due on the 15th of next month." Mr. Karbronsky, Gordo's new landlord handed Gordo a bill and turned to leave.

"Thanks, sir." Gordo unlocked his new apartment. He was going job hunting tomorrow, and would keep a job (and his apartment) up until he could move into a dorm in September.

Gordo looked around his apartment, placing the last few of his items around the rooms. He had decided to unpack over a longer period of time, and now, in the middle of July, he was done. Finally. He was also truly grateful that the apartment had come fully furnished; furniture was something he did _not _have the money for. Gordo collapsed onto the bed and fell into sleep.

The next morning, Gordo changed his clothes and was off. His first stop was Macy's. A job was available in the "Home Goods" department.

Gordo approached the front desk. "Hi. Are you Liza?"

"That's me," the girl said, tucking her blonde hair behind her ears. "And you are…?"

"David. David Gordon. I'm applying to the open job here."

"David. I like it," she flashed him an irresistible smile and dug out an application. "Here. Just fill this out and have a seat."

"Are you conducting the interview?" Gordo asked hopefully.

"Well, I am the manager, so…yes!"

"Very good."

"I've gotta tell you, David, you're already a whole lot nicer than anyone who's come around so far."

"Does that mean I have the advantage?"

"We'll see…"

David studied the girl for a minute. "Has anyone ever told you that you have really beautiful green eyes?"

She blushed. "Thanks."

"It's true. In fact, all of you is pretty. You must be fighting off the guys with a stick." Gordo even surprised himself with his last comment. _Whoa, _he thought, _I should get a ticket for reckless flirting._

Liza laughed. "Actually, I haven't been on a date in a couple years."

"Well…maybe I could change that?"

"What did you have in mind?"

"How about dinner and a movie?" _No, dating your potential boss is _not _a good idea! _Gordo's inner voice screamed.

"Sounds nice. You free on Saturday?"

"Yeah. Um, I'll come get you at 7?"

"Do you have a car?"

"Um, no I was going to just take a cab…"

"Well, I do have a car, so how about I pick you up at 7 instead?"

"Sure."

"Now, ready for that interview?"

"Yeah," Gordo said, and followed Liza into a back room.

After the interview, Liza and Gordo were standing by the front desk. "Your application looks very promising, David."

"Thanks."

"Well…you've got the job!"

"Great, you don't know how much this means to me!"

Liza reached out and shook Gordo's hand, holding on for longer than necessary. "You start tomorrow at noon."

"Cool. See you, then."

"Bye, David."

LM LM LM LM LM

It was well into August now, and Lizzie was still shaken up over her breakup with Gordo. The only thing that reassured her was that no more letters came, and those two guys had never tried anything again. Yet.

Lizzie turned away from the bulletin board she had been looking at. She really needed to take those pictures of her and Gordo down. They were getting to be too much to handle. She logged onto her computer and went to Facebook. There, in her news feed, was a new picture Gordo had uploaded. He had his arm slung around some girl with blonde hair and dazzling green eyes. The caption read, "Liza and Me. She's been so good to me!" This was the third picture of this girl he had uploaded that month. Lizzie logged out. Maybe she should just unfriend him…

There was a knock at her door. "Come in," Lizzie said, snapping out of her fantasy.

Miranda made herself present. She curled her nose. "Taylor Swift? Again?"

"What? I like this song."

"You never liked it before…you know."

"So? My tastes are changing."

"Listen, I came to say goodbye."

"What?"

"I'm heading to New York for a week. My aunt lives there and needs some help around her house. She has cancer."

"Oh…" Lizzie turned back to her computer and absentmindedly hit the "replay" button. Taylor began to boom through the speakers again.

"Liz, are you going to be okay without me here for a while?"

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well, sometimes it seems like I'm the only thing that keeps you in reality. If I didn't know you better, I'd think you were plotting some gory suicide attempt."

Lizzie looked at her hands, tears beginning to fall. "I wouldn't kill myself…"

"I know. You were always afraid of dying." There was an awkward pause before she added, "You really love him, don't you?"

"More than anything."

Miranda hugged Lizzie close. "I'm so sorry."

LM LM LM LM LM

"David?" Liza called from the kitchen.

"Yeah?" Gordo came out of the living room and stepped into Liza's spacious kitchen. Apparently Macy's paid their managers well.

"Can you hand me the pepper?"

"Sure." One great thing about Liza was that she was a _fantastic _cook. And baker. Her fudge brownies were to die for. "Here, honey."

"Thanks," she planted a quick kiss on his lips and then returned to cooking. Just then, Gordo's phone rang. He stepped out onto the balcony before answering. "Hello?"

"How could you, Gordo?"

"Miranda?"

"Yeah, it's me. Now spill."

"How could I what?"

"Gordo! Don't play dumb. You totally destroyed Lizzie's heart. It's like you took a hammer and shattered it!"

Gordo sighed and shook his head. "She's still moping?"

"Moping is an understatement. She's like…she's delusional with grief, Gordo! And you already have another girlfriend? Sheesh…it's like you never loved her in the first place."

"Did you call for any special reason? Or did you just decide to make today 'attack Gordo day'?"

She snorted. "I'm flying into JFK to visit my aunt. I need a ride to somewhere."

"Ever heard of a cab?"

"DAVID GORDON!"

"Fine, fine. What time does your plane land?"

"5:30."

"I'll see you then." He hung up and went back inside.

"Who was that?" Liza asked.

"An old friend. Can I borrow your car to pick her up and take her where she needs to be?

"Sure."

"Liza, are you jealous?"

"No. Why would I be?"

"You know you're not going to lose me, right?"

"Yeah. What time does the plane land?"

"5:30."

"Okay. Did she call from the plane? It's five now."

"Oh, crap. She must have. Keys, please?"

"In my purse."

Gordo grabbed the keys and was on his way.

LM LM LM LM LM

"That is so like my aunt…" Miranda mumbled.

"Yeah, yeah, I know: your family's dysfunctional."

"Shut it, Gordon. You're still not forgiven. Are we there, yet?"

"Yeah, Miranda, we're there. Why don't you just get out of the car right here on the freeway?"

"Shut it! So, who is this girl you're with?"

"Her name's Liza."

"Details, please?"

"Just meet her and find out."

Soon enough, they were all in Liza's apartment. Miranda wrapped her hands around the warm mug of coffee Liza had given her. "So, California, huh? That's such a long flight!" Liza said.

"Tell me about it," Miranda replied coolly.

"And then you finally get here to discover that your aunt's spending the weekend in Buffalo with some friends. You're not getting much of a first impression of New York."

"This is okay." Miranda cuddled back into the couch. "So, Liza, are you going to college this year?"

"Actually, I graduated…a few years ago."

"How old are you?" Miranda asked cautiously.

"27."

Miranda's eyes went wide. "Oh," she said.

"Well, I've got to get to work. Nice meeting you, Miranda." Then she was out the door.

"Gordo…" Miranda started.

"So she's a few years older than me…that doesn't matter," Gordo said.

"Try nine years older than you, Gordo! And don't you notice all the similarities?"

"What on Earth are you talking about?"

"Her name, her looks, she's a good cook…come on, Gordo. You're not that stupid."

"What?"

"She's just like Lizzie! Right down to the kind of clothes she wears!" Suddenly it all clicked together in Miranda's brain. "You still love Lizzie! That's it! You still love Lizzie, and your brain automatically looked for someone _like _Lizzie to fill that hole. And you didn't even realize it!"

"You're insane."

"No, I'm being logical. Think about it! Haven't your parents talked about stuff like this before?"

"The mind automatically attaches itself to things that it has grown used to. I was used to Lizzie…so I guess my mind was looking for someone like her?"

"Or just her."

"No."

"You still love Lizzie, and she still loves you, so what are you doing here?"

"I don't love Lizzie," Gordo stated calmly.

"Look me in the eye and say that again." He shook his head, clearly exasperated.

"Even if Lizzie would take me back, I can't just break Liza's heart."

"You jackass."

"Excuse me?"

"You'll break Lizzie's heart after knowing her for 18 years and dating her for three of those, but you won't break up with Liza whom you've known for a month. You're a jerk."

"Miranda…"

"You still love her! Admit it!"

"FINE! I STILL LOVE LIZZIE, OKAY? ARE YOU HAPPY NOW?"

"Very."

LM LM LM LM LM

Jo knocked hesitantly on Lizzie's door. "Come in," Lizzie said. It was apparent that she had been crying; you could hear it in her voice.

"Hey, honey," Jo said. "I brought you some cookies."

"Thanks," Lizzie said, and took one off the plate.

Jo decided to cut right to the chase. "Liz, sweetheart…you can't just sit here in your room all summer. You've got to get over Gordo sometime." Lizzie tuned her mother out and sang along to the music playing. "Ignore me, but you know it's true."

"Mom, what would you say if I decided to kill myself?"

"I'd take you straight to the hospital and tell them to do something."

"Well, I wasn't going to kill myself anyway. I was just wondering."

"Good. I don't want you to _ever _kill yourself. Liz, I think we need to get you a counselor. It would be good for you to have someone to talk to about all this."

"I don't need a counselor," Lizzie yelled, exasperated. "What I _need _is Gordo!" She began to cry again, but wiped the tears away quickly.

"My point exactly. You don't _need _Gordo, you want Gordo. We could just go to the doctor if you want. Maybe we can get you on some anti-depressants."

"I'm 18 and I can make my own decisions."

"Not as long as you live under my roof, Missy."

Lizzie snorted. "Maybe I should just move out, then."

"Elizabeth Brooke McGuire! You are having a miserable time dealing with this, and I am having one hell of a time watching you try to deal with it. I made a doctor's appointment. We go in tomorrow."

"Whatever. Even if you get anti-depressants for me, I don't have to take them."

"I will force feed them to you if I have to. I can't watch you be like this, anymore. You need help, sweetheart, and I want to get it for you."

"Whatever." The phone rang, and Jo retreated down-stairs to answer it. When she came back, she looked a ghostly white. "Mom?" Lizzie asked, concerned.

"Get in the car."

"Why?"

"Roberta Gordon's in the hospital. We need to go visit her."

**A/N: There, my longest chapter ever! Hope you enjoyed.**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Finally went to the doctor. Got some antibiotics…yay! Here ya go, another update.**

**Bubbles237: Thank you! Enjoy!**

**Boris Yeltsin: He's screwing up his life! :P**

**River Tam: Lol…I know…but I had to do it! For the sake of the story! Really enjoyed your update of "Star of David," btw. **

**Tomboy22: Yeah…sad. He **_**is **_**a jackass for doing that! Lol…love how I'm dissing my own characters. :P Thanks. I finally got medicine, so I should be all good to go! Oh, that's never fun! I started to lose my voice a while ago, too. Sounds like we have the same bug. :( Feel better!**

**bFishstix: Maybe she does, maybe she doesn't…mwahahaha! :P Yeah, I feel bad for Lizzie, too. It'll get better, though, I promise. I'm a big fan of fluff, so I can't really write anything **_**too **_**sad. And read on to find out what happened to Gordo's mom! Enjoy!**

Miranda stretched, but kept her eyes closed. She could hear a phone ringing, but thought it must be her imagination…until Gordo came running out of the bedroom to answer it.

"Hello?" Gordo asked.

"David…"

"Dad?"

"Yes. Do you think you can get away from work for a few days?"

"Maybe…why?"

"Your mother's been in an accident and she wishes to see you."

"Oh my God…what happened?"

"We're not quite sure yet. She doesn't want to talk about it right now."

Gordo sighed. "Let me talk to my boss. I'll try to be on the next plane in." He hung up.

"Gordo? Is everything okay?" Miranda stood up and walked over, placing a comforting hand on her friend's shoulder.

"My mom was in an accident. I need to go back home and see her."

"Is she going to be okay?"

"I don't know." Miranda pulled him close and hugged him. "Do you forgive me yet?" Gordo asked, breaking the silence.

"No." They both laughed and Gordo headed off to pack.

LM LM LM LM LM

"Hello, Roberta," Jo said, coming to the bedside of her friend. She took her hand. "How do you feel?"

"Alright, thank you." Roberta replied. Then she noticed Lizzie standing awkwardly by the door. "Hello, Lizzie."

"Hi, Mrs. Gordon."

"Jo, may I talk to Lizzie privately for a minute?"

"Of course." She stood to leave, patting her daughter on the back on her way out.

"What's up?" Lizzie asked, going to sit down in one of the plastic chairs near the bed.

"I was wondering if you had heard from David since he left." Lizzie simply shook her head. "I heard that you two had a pretty brutal break up before he left. Do you want to talk about it?"

"He dumped me over the phone and then left the state. That's all there is to it."

"Over the phone?"

"He didn't even talk to me. He left a message with my little brother."

"I'm so sorry, Lizzie."

"It's not your fault."

"I feel somewhat responsible, though, since he is my son. I don't know why he was so cold."

"I'm over it," Lizzie said.

"You were always a bad liar."

LM LM LM LM LM

Gordo and Miranda dashed through the airport. It was 11:00 PM (only 8:00 in California) and they were about to miss their plane. Once they were safely in line to board, Gordo asked Miranda, "Are you sure you want to come with me?"

Miranda tucked her raven hair behind her ears. "Yes. I've known your mom forever; why wouldn't I come?"

"Just checking."

They got to Hillridge at about 5:00 in the morning Eastern Time, 2:00 in the morning Pacific Time. They took a taxi straight to the hospital. The hospital waiting room was stuffed full of Roberta Gordon's friends. Miranda headed over to Lizzie and embraced her while Gordo went over to his dad. They shook hands and Mr. Gordo explained the situation to his son. Lizzie and Miranda watched from a distance. Finally, Gordo came over to them. He gave Lizzie a quick hug. "They're doing a check up on her right now, so we should be able to go in soon." He said, and then the three stood there in awkward silence.

"I…um…I'm going to go get some coffee. You two have stuff to talk about, anyway." Miranda said, and headed off in search of the hospital café.

"Lizzie," Gordo started softly.

"We have _nothing _to talk about, David Gordon." Lizzie said, folding her arms.

"Right," Gordo muttered, even though there were a million things he wanted to talk to Lizzie about.

"Two visitors at a time," the nurse announced as she came out of the hospital room.

"Lizzie, Gordo, why don't you two go first?" Mr. Gordon suggested. The two teenagers nodded and went in.

"David," Roberta said, and Gordo embraced his mom.

"How are you, Mom?"

"Good, considering the situation. You two must be happy to see each other again," she said in a feeble attempt to patch things up between Gordo and Lizzie.

"Yeah," Gordo said. Lizzie just bit her lip and shook her head slightly. Roberta gave her son a look that clearly said, "You owe her an apology." "Liz, let's give someone else a chance to visit."

"Okay," Lizzie said, turning to leave. Gordo gently reached out and tried to take her hand, but she jerked it away.

"Lizzie, why are you being so cold to me?" They stepped away from the crowd.

"I don't know, Gordo, but I guess I'm being very rude. 'Cause you've been a freaking angel to me," she rolled her eyes.

"Because I wanted to break up? Is that why you're so mad at me?"

"No," the sarcasm in her voice was very apparent.

"Lizzie, I'm sorry if you got your heart broken. Okay? I just needed to move on."

"I wouldn't have cared if you hadn't told my little brother to dump me for you!" She yelled. Everyone glanced over at them.

"Keep your voice down," Gordo whispered. "You're right, that was rude. I'm sorry about that."

"Screw you. Do you know how much that hurt me? My mom wants me to get on anti-depressants. My best friend has been pleading me to just leave the house. I cry every day."

"Really?"

"Would I lie to you?"

"No."

"Then why do you ask?"

Gordo sighed, "I didn't think you'd take it so bad." She snorted. Gordo ran a hand through his hair. "And…I guess the fact that I have a girlfriend again doesn't help much."

"Good guess."

"I'm sorry I was so harsh with our break up. I really am. Truce?"

"Truce," Lizzie said, and pulled him in for a hug. Her heart still ached, though…

LM LM LM LM LM

"Nice to see you again, Miss McGuire." Dr. Olsen said, sticking out her hand. Lizzie shook it.

"Same to you."

"Why are you here today?"

"My mother forced me to come. She wants me on anti-depressants."

Dr. Olsen looked at Lizzie. She had always been so cheerful…why anti-depressants? "Has something happened recently to make you upset?"

"Yes, but I have it completely under control."

Something was obviously bothering her patient, but Dr. Olsen decided to avoid it for a while. She changed the subject. "How's your boyfriend, Lizzie? You two have been together for a while now, haven't you?"

That's when Lizzie broke down and started crying and sobbing. Dr. Olsen wrote the prescription.

LM LM LM LM LM

Lizzie stared at the bottle in her hand. Anti-depressants. Weren't these for people who were, like, Emo and about to kill themselves? She tossed the pills into the trash effortlessly. There was a knock on her door. "Come in."

"Hey," Matt said, sitting down on the edge of his sister's bed.

"Hi." Silence.

"Um…can I, ya know…start working for you now? Melina's birthday's in a few days."

"You can just have the money," Lizzie pointed at her desk. "It's there, in my purse."

"I don't want to just take it. I want to work for it."

"That's a first." Matt shrugged and headed over to his sister's desk. He glanced at the trash can and noticed the prescription bottle.

"Lizzie!" He exclaimed, pulling it out of the waste basket. "You have to take these!"

"No I don't, Matt. I'm 18, an adult. I can make my own decisions. It's not that big a deal."

"Lizzie. I may make fun of you and pull pranks on you sometimes…actually, a lot…but I love you. And I know you're really having a hard time right now. I want to help you get through it."

"I love you, too. But I'm fine, really."

"No you're not."

Lizzie shook her head. "If I take a pill, will you leave?"

"Yes." He handed her the bottle. She took one of the pink pills out and swallowed it. "Thanks," Matt said, and left the room.

LM LM LM LM LM

Gordo sat in his mother's hospital room, reading a book. His mother finally woke up from her nap and glanced over at her son. "David," she said affectionately.

He looked up. "Hey, Mom. Feel okay?"

"Yes."

"Are you…ready to talk about what happened yet?"

"In fact, yes…I do want to talk to you about it." Gordo put his book down and listened patiently. "I was walking down the street, doing some shopping, when this man came up behind me. He grabbed me and pushed me into the alley nearby. He just started…beating me up. And he was cursing our family," Roberta said, starting to get a little emotional. Gordo clenched his fists.

"Did you recognize him?"

"No. All I saw was that he had a beard." She glanced over at Gordo, who had turned a very pale white. "David, are you okay?"

Gordo took a deep breath, "Yes. Did this man have a friend with him?"

"No, I don't believe so."

"I'm…so sorry that happened to you, Mom."

"At least I'm alive, right?" She said that often.

"Yeah…excuse me; I need to go make a phone call."

LM LM LM LM LM

"Hello?" Lizzie asked. She hated to admit it, but she was already starting to feel a little better.

"Liz, my mom just told me what happened to her…some jackass beat her up! And I think it was the same guy that attacked us!"

"What? Gordo, how do you know?"

"I don't, but my mom said that this guy had a beard and he started cursing our family."

"Oh my God…"

"I just don't know who this guy is."

"Is he an old friend of your mom's?"

"My mom isn't friends with any creeps. Plus she would have recognized him."

"I'm just looking at the possibilities, Gordo," Lizzie huffed. "Is he an old patient?"

"No…couldn't be…could it?"

"Maybe. Meet me at your parents' office in thirty."

"See you then, McG."

**A/N: Okay, I know that wasn't one of my longer (or better) chapters, but I needed to get to this point rather quickly. Quickly because I have a ton of crap to make up for school. -_- Oh well.**

**Hey, expect lots of writing from me next week! I have the whole week off for Thanksgiving! :D My friend says that I should have to go to school 'cause I've been home for most of this week, lol. It was no vacation this week, though!**

**Hey, I updated my profile! (I finally figured out how to!) So check it out if you wanna learn a little bit about me. :) :P **

**Byeeee.** **See y'all later. **


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: So…it turns out I had walking pneumonia and the stomach flu at the same time. And this was, like, right after I got my flu shot. Go figure. -_- Anyways, here's a chapter!**

**bFishstix: Yes, she'll be fine. Her being hurt just gave Lizzie and Gordo more reason to investigate this guy. And, yes. :) I figured even Matt has to love his sister a little. :P Enjoy!**

**Bubbles237: Thank you! Enjoy!**

**Littlemick: You're welcome! Thank **_**you!**_** Looks like your wish came true! :O Enjoy!**

**Boris Yeltsin: This'll be interesting, right? :P Enjoy!**

Gordo parked the car and got out, briefly reluctant to leave the warmth of his car on this stormy day. He saw Lizzie, standing by the door, arms wrapped around herself. "Sorry I'm late," Gordo called out, going over to her, "How long have you been here?" He finally reached her. She shrugged, hazel eyes staring off into the distance. She turned to him.

"Not long." She shivered.

"You're cold. Let's go in." Lizzie nodded in agreement. Gordo tried the door. Locked. He dug around in his pockets, silently wishing he had remembered the key. "A-ha," he pulled out a silver key and slid it into the lock. The automatic lights switched on. Gordo held the door open for Lizzie.

"Gordo…are we going to get in trouble?" Lizzie asked, suddenly looking nervous.

"For being here? No, why would we? My parents work here. And no one will be here this late on a Saturday." She went in, Gordo following behind her. "Here's my mom's office, and my dad's is upstairs."

"Let's start with your mom's…since we're right here."

"Okay." Gordo shoved his hands back into his pockets and brought out another key.

"Where does your mom keep her case files?" Lizzie asked, glancing around the office. It was just like the psychologist offices in movies; a couch along one wall, a desk near a window, and filing cabinets and bookshelves taking up the rest of the wall space.

"In the filing cabinets?" Gordo asked, sarcasm making its way into his voice. Lizzie sighed and blew hot air at her bangs. Gordo raised a brow and grinned.

"We don't need the sarcasm, Gordo," she said, although she was obviously trying to fight off laughter. A moment of silence was exchanged between them. "But, that was pretty stupid of me." They laughed.

"Hey, you look a lot happier than you have since I arrived."

"I feel happier."

"Good. I like it when you laugh," Gordo said, hoping it wouldn't sound awkward. Was that his imagination, or were her cheeks lighting up with a pale red?

"Um…just help me look." Mrs. Gordon had always been big on photography. Therefore, she kept a picture of each patient in their case file. She had encouraged Mr. Gordon to do the same, saying it would make him feel more connected with the patients. Gordo went to Lizzie's side and began to dig through the drawer, pulling out several files at a time and looking at the picture inside each.

"There has got to be an easier way to do this," Gordo commented after several minutes with no luck.

"Do you have any better ideas?"

"No," Gordo muttered, continuing to look.

"Is this him?" Lizzie held up a picture.

"No," Gordo said, "his hair was red, not black."

"How could you tell? It was dark. Then again, this is completely pointless. Neither of us would be able to recognize him right now," she sighed. "I was so stupid."

Gordo figured this was the perfect time to confess. "Well, actually, I'll be able to recognize him."

"How?"

"He, um…he came up and talked to me a while before he tried to kill us. That's why he asked if I remembered him that night."

"Why didn't you tell me about this before?"

He shrugged. "It never fit into conversation until now."

"Well, there's no one with red hair and a beard here."

"I don't see anything, either. Ready to head upstairs?"

"Sure."

LM LM LM LM LM

"Gordo! Gordo, I think I found him!" Lizzie squealed a few minutes later, jumping up and down and holding up a picture triumphantly.

"Hold still so I can see," Gordo said, putting his hands on her shoulders to keep her from jumping again. She trembled slightly under his touch. "That's him, all right!" Gordo said. They smiled and embraced. "What's his name?"

Lizzie turned back to the file and read, "Darian Romero." Suddenly, a light turned on in the hallway. The two teens glanced back to the door and saw a janitor coming to clean the offices. Lizzie quickly shoved the file back in the drawer and they both dashed to the window. Gordo jumped off the window ledge, landing in the soft bushes below. Lizzie followed, landing next to him. They ducked down. The janitor came over and closed the window nonchalantly. Lizzie and Gordo crept around to the front of the building and to their cars. Why hadn't they noticed the janitor's car in the parking lot earlier; it was a very hard to miss shade of metallic blue. Gordo chuckled and leaned against his car. "Gordo!" Lizzie yelled, "That wasn't funny!"

He shrugged. "No, not really. I'm just so glad we found out who he is. We're finally onto something." He glanced at Lizzie, who looked slightly happy, now, herself. "You're amazing, Liz," he said, before he could even stop himself. What was he doing flirting with Lizzie when he had a girlfriend waiting for him back in New York? His emotions were starting to overwhelm him. Lizzie smiled.

"Right back at you." They stood there for a moment before she added, "I, erm…have to get going. I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yeah. Tomorrow."

LM LM LM LM LM

"Hello?"

"Miranda? I have a problem," Gordo said, switching the phone to his other hand and lied back on his bed.

"What's up, Gordo?"

"I spent the evening with Lizzie. And I was _flirting_."

"So? You still love her. It's only natural to flirt. Plus, all guys flirt automatically…it's like they can't stop themselves."

"But I have a girlfriend! It's not loyal to love Lizzie while I'm with Liza! I would have never even thought of looking at another girl when Lizzie and I were together."

"Take the hints, Gordo! If you flirt with other people, then Liza's obviously not the girl for you."

"But I like Liza. A lot."

"But you like Lizzie more. Gordo sighed in response. "Just break up with Liza, Gordo."

"I can't. After what I did to Lizzie, I really don't want to break up with someone over the phone again."

"Okay…but Lizzie won't wait forever."

"I know." They hung up. Gordo decided to call Liza, just to see how he was doing.

"Hello?" Liza's cheerful voice asked. Gordo could hear laughter in the background. He wondered who she had over.

"Hey, Liza!"

"David? Oh, hi…" More laughter erupted from behind her.

"Hi. Um, who do you have over?"

"Uh, just a friend. Why do you ask?"

"Well, I…I was just wondering."

"Okay."

"So…how have you been?" Gordo wondered why she was acting so strange. This just wasn't like her.

"Okay. David, we need to talk."

"We are talking, aren't we?" Gordo asked, hoping to at least get a chuckle out of her.

"No. Seriously."

"Oh, okay…"

"I've met someone," she said, after inhaling a deep breath.

Gordo tried to think of her words in every possible way, except the way she meant them. Except the way he _knew _she meant them. "Well, that's cool. I mean, everyone needs to meet new friends, right?"

Liza sighed. "David…you know what I mean."

"Oh. You _met _someone."

"Yes. And, maybe, with you being so far away and all we should try taking a break from each other."

"I'm going to come back."

"I know, but…I really want to try being with this certain someone I met. A long distance relationship isn't in my interests right now."

"You make it sound like I'm not coming back," Gordo said, trying hard to keep his cool. Now he truly understood how Lizzie had felt during their breakup.

"Well…you might want to stay out there after the next piece of news I have to tell you."

"I lost my job?" It was a stab in the dark, but Gordo figured his day couldn't possibly get any worse now.

"Yes…I mean, my supervisor wanted to know when you were coming back, and I told him that you were in California. I guess I could have worded it a little better. Someone's already in to take your place.

"Did you just, like, plan this?" Gordo yelled, standing up and pacing around his room.

"David, no. I never meant to hurt you or anything…"

"You're breaking up with me over the phone! Do you have any idea how _lame _that is?" A pang of guilt stabbed at him as he said that. He was just as low as Liza.

"I know…but I didn't know when you were going to come back and I just can't date this person behind your back anymore. I _do _have a conscious, after all."

"So you were cheating on me, too. Apparently you don't have much of a conscious."

"David, please be reasonable."

"Oh, I'll be reasonable," Gordo said, and he hung up. "Ugh!" he screamed, slamming his fist against the wall. What an eventful night that had been.

LM LM LM LM LM

Lizzie sat huddled on the couch in her pajamas. It was getting late, and the rest of her family had already gone up to bed, but Lizzie was wide awake, eyes glued to the TV screen where a horror movie was playing. Lizzie generally hated horror movies, but _Frankenstein _wasn't bad so far. She reached for the popcorn just as the doorbell rang. She went to go get it. There, she saw Gordo with a tear stained face and his hair a wreck. "Gordo? Are you okay?"

He took a deep breath and followed Lizzie into the living room. "Liza broke up with me."

"Oh, Gordo." Lizzie drew him up into a hug. "She doesn't deserve you."

"No, she was exactly what I deserved." Lizzie pulled back and looked at him, confused. "She broke up with me over the phone…now I know how lame that was of me." Lizzie squeezed him again.

"I really do forgive you."

"I know. I don't deserve your friendship," he said, trying to keep his voice steady. He failed miserably. They sat down on the couch and Lizzie wiped a tear off of his cheek with her thumb.

Caressing his face with her hand, she said, "Yes you do. You're the greatest person I know, Gordo, and someday you'll find someone who loves you completely." She didn't add that she herself loved Gordo totally and completely. She pursed her lips, trying to keep the words inside her head.

"Thanks."

"I think we just all forget that everything we do and say affects people. And our future. But nobody's perfect."

"You are."

"No, I'm not. I'm clumsy, kinda ditzy, and I'm a slob. Have you _seen _my room lately?" He smiled.

"You're perfect to me."

"Thanks. But I think it's my turn to compliment _you _for once. You're cute, funny, smart, and creative. And…you're nice to everyone, even people you hate. You always stand up for me and Miranda. You're loyal, and you're your own person. You wear whatever you want, listen to whatever music you want, like whatever movies you want…and I kind of envy that. And I'm sure everyone else does, too. You don't care what anyone else thinks, and that's really great. So, why do you care so much about what Liza thinks of you?"

"I don't know."

"I guess sometimes we all forget that you're human. Even you."

"Yeah. Maybe." Lizzie pulled him close again and they sat there in the glow of the TV screen, Frankenstein wandering around somewhere in the background. There was a pregnant pause in their conversation, but the two teenagers were content to just sit there in each other's arms for a while. So, there they sat, their love for each other very evident. You could tell they loved each other just by the way they snuggled up. Lizzie sighed, trying to think of the perfect thing to say. She just didn't want Gordo to be hurt anymore. She could still feel tears slipping down his cheeks, and it pained her. So many times he had comforted her after a break up, and here it was Lizzie's turn…and she couldn't think of anything else to say. "You know I would never hurt you, right?"

Gordo wasn't quite sure how to take that. Did she want to restore their relationship? Was she just trying to be nice? He decided a simple reply would be best. "I know," he muttered, "I know."

**A/N: There you go! 2,057 words of solid story. I made sure. Please review, guys! Expect a next chapter tomorrow or Monday. :)**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Okay, you can for sure call this a filler chapter. But I need a filler before I get to the another exciting point. Besides, Gordo and Lizzie need a romantic little get away, don't they? ;)**

"Rise and shine, sleepy head!"

Lizzie groaned and threw her pillow over her head to block out the sunlight. "Matt? What are you doing?"

"I'm leaving soon and I came to say goodbye."

"Buh-bye. Now leave!"

"Not yet."

"Argh! _What _do you want?"

"Take your anti-depressant."

"I will when I get up."

"I don't know if I can trust you, though." Lizzie rolled over and looked at her brother.

"Matt, of course you can trust me."

"Take it right now."

"Why does this matter so much to you?"

"Because you felt so much better yesterday. Hang on." He ran into the bathroom and returned with her prescription bottle. "Here. Please, Liz."

Lizzie sighed but swallowed the pill anyway. "There, happy?"

"Yup! See ya, sis."

Lizzie rolled back over and settled in to go to sleep. Gordo came and stood by her open door. "Knock, knock."

Lizzie sighed and sat up. "Okay, okay, I'm up!"

"Good. It's getting late, anyway. Do you have plans today?"

"Nope. What do you have in mind?"

"There's this sweet new ice skating rink open downtown."

"Ice skating, Gordo? How old are we? And it's only August."

"Come on, it could be…" He was thinking "romantic" but no way in hell could he say that.

"Fun?" She tried to finish his thought for him.

"Yeah. Fun."

"Okay, you win. Let me get dressed and we can go downstairs and grab some breakfast first."

"Sounds good." He went out to wait in the hall.

Lizzie dragged herself out of bed and over to her closet. She threw on a sweater, jeans, Ugg boots and brushed her hair. A little lip gloss and she was good to go.

"You look good," Gordo commented.

"Thanks. What do you want to eat?" They jogged down the stairs together.

"I'm actually not hungry. But I'll sit with you." Lizzie got out some pancake mix and got to work.

When they were all cooked, she asked, "You sure you don't want some of these?"

"Well, maybe just one. You know me and food." She smirked.

"Yeah, I know."

LM LM LM LM LM

"Gordo, this place is so dorky. Who listens to Christmas music in the summer?"

Gordo stopped humming along to "Jingle Bells" long enough to retort, "You're just bickering 'cause you're not good at ice skating."

"I'm not bickering. And just for the record, I am _great _at ice skating. I just have to get my 'ice legs' or whatever first."

"Okay, McG, whatever you say. Let's just get our skates." They wandered over to the front desk. "Two, please." He laid some bills down on the table.

"Gordo, let me pay for myself."

"It's no big deal, Liz."

"What size skates?" Asked the attendant, smiling at the two teenagers.

"10 and…?" Gordo started.

"7's," Lizzie finished. They ventured over to a bench and traded sneakers for skates. "How long do we have to do this?"

"Until we get cold, I guess."

"Well, I'm already cold. Let's leave."

"Not so fast. I paid for you, remember? We have to get my money's worth first."

Lizzie and Gordo got on the ice, Gordo showing his athletic side and taking to it immediately. Lizzie…not so much. She held tentatively onto the railing, slowly making her way around the rink. Gordo laughed as he lapped her. "Gordo! Don't laugh! Just help me!" He slowed down next to her.

"Here, hold my hand." She wrinkled her nose. "Just do it. I don't bite or anything. We used to do this all the time, remember?"

"Yeah…I remember." She reached out and grabbed his hand right before falling over. Gordo helped her up.

"Come on. We'll go slowly." They waddled their way around the ice for a while until Lizzie got her "ice legs." They began to go faster, Gordo even daring to spin her around in circles once or twice. Soon he had her laughing and smiling, just like old times.

They stopped at an Italian restaurant and got some spaghetti. "Remember the last time we came here?" Gordo asked.

"Yeah. On my birthday."

"Oh…yeah." They were silent. "You know, I've really missed you, Lizzie."

"I've missed you, too. But I manage."

"Yeah. Me too, I guess." Lizzie's eyes started to fill with tears. She looked up at Gordo.

"How was New York?" This was the first time they had seriously sat down and talked about Gordo's leaving since the hospital.

"It was…interesting. The people weren't bad, except for Liza. My job was okay. The apartment was decent. I mean, it was so different than Hillridge. It was kinda fun being in a big city for a while. I missed everything about this place, though."

"School's starting soon. I guess you have to go back soon?"

"About that…I was thinking it's too late to get back into UCLA for this year, but I could just hang out here for a year. Then I could go there next year."

"Everyone would love it if you came back. To stay, I mean."

"Thanks. Ready to go?"

"Sure."

Before either of them realized it, they were in Gordo's backyard, lying in his old tree house. "Remember all those summer days we used to spend up here?" Gordo asked, pulling Lizzie's hand to help her up the ladder.

"Yeah. We were, like, obsessed with this place. We used to bring lemonade and cookies and board games up here. We would all talk for hours. Miranda usually came with, though."

"Yes. But I like being with just you sometimes, too." Lizzie's cheeks lit up.

"Well, the feeling is definitely mutual." They sprawled out on an old blanket they had left there years ago. Gordo reached over and took Lizzie's hand. She shuddered, but didn't pull away.

"Look at all the stars," Gordo said, using his free hand to point out constellations. "The Big Dipper, the Little Dipper…"

"Not a cloud in the sky."

"Yeah. It's gorgeous."

"For sure."

"Liz, how did we break up?" He asked, just hoping they could talk about it.

"You seriously don't remember?"

"Well…can we t-talk about it?" he stammered.

"Sure, but what is there to say?"

"What would you say if…if I told you I was sorry I broke up with you." Gordo hoped she could take a hint.

"You already told me you were sorry you dumped me over the phone."

"Oh, yeah…" That wasn't the way he meant it, but he decided to play along. "Have you, um…been seeing anyone?"

Lizzie considered the possible answers in her head. Should she lie? Say she's over him? "No." She had always been a bad liar, anyway.

"Oh. Well, don't you think you should start to get out again?" Saying the exact opposite of what your heart felt could be difficult, but Gordo had managed to do it in that simple sentence.

"Maybe. I don't want someone just to be with someone, though, you know?"

"Yeah, I completely get it." In response to that, Lizzie leaned over and pecked him on the lips. She pulled away and touched her lips. She had forgotten how good that had felt.

"Sorry," she said, blushing and lying back down.

"Don't be." Gordo commented, giving her hand a squeeze.

LM LM LM LM LM

Lizzie tapped her thumbs against the screen of her blackberry. She had kissed Gordo. _She had kissed Gordo._ Her ex-boyfriend Gordo. What had she been thinking? But that was in the past. Now her dilemma was deciding whether or not to text Miranda and tell her about it. Finally deciding she was in desperate need of guidance, Lizzie typed a message into her phone and hit send.

_I NEED YOUR HELP. MOVIE NIGHT?_

The reply came:

_I'LL BE OVER IN TEN._

Soon the two girls were sitting on the rug in the living room, sharing ice cream straight out of the carton. "So spill," Miranda insisted, licking the chocolate cream off her spoon.

"I…well…ugh, I have _no _clue where to start."

"Something to do with Gordo?"

"How'd you know?"

The brunette rolled her eyes. "Please. He's been the only topic of conversation for months now."

Lizzie blushed. "Do I really talk about him that much."

Miranda smiled, "It's okay. So what happened?"

"Well, we went ice skating…"

"That's so cute! I used to love ice skating with Keith…sorry, back on topic."

"It's fine. Then we went to dinner and we hung out in his old tree house. We got to talking about…us…and I kissed him. _Kissed him_. What the hell was I thinking, Miranda? And more importantly, what do I do know."

"Well, what did you say after the kiss?"

"I said, 'sorry'."

"Sorry? That's worse than his 'thanks' in Rome, Lizzie!"

"I know, I know."

"Whatever. What did he say?"

"He said, 'don't be'."

"Ooh, he must have liked it!" Miranda cooed, bumping shoulders with her friend.

"Stop it," Lizzie giggled. "And even if he did, it doesn't mean anything?"

"What? Why don't you two just get back together already? I'm tired of playing matchmaker," Miranda groaned, laying her head back on the couch.

"You think it's been hard for you? Walk a mile in my shoes."

"No."

"What?"

"I could never walk a mile in your shoes. We're different sizes." The two girls giggled.

"So, seriously, what do you think I should do?"

"You know what I'm going to say."

"Yeah…but I just don't know if I'm ready to tell him I love him yet…"

"Please, like he doesn't already know?"

"Am I that obvious?"

"Yes. For sure."

**A/N: The next chapter will be a little more exciting, but still a filler. Sorry. I have to have these two fillers, though, so I can get to the exciting parts! :P Review, please! **


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Sorry, guys. This would have been up last night, but I got seriously sick. Like, almost "take-me-to-the-hospital" sick. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! Just in case I don't get a chapter up tomorrow. **

**bFishstix: Thank you! Enjoy!**

**River Tam: Thank you :) They'll get back together within the next three or four chapters. Sorry for the spoiler there, lol. Maybe they are Friedo's dad…maybe not. Mwahaha! Patiently awaiting your next update of "Star of David!" And I'm so sorry that work's been so sucky for you! That's no fun. :( Enjoy this chapter!**

**Bubbles237: Thank you! Enjoy! **

Gordo walked in the house, shopping bags in hand. "Dad," he called, "I picked up some eggs, bread, and milk. We were all out." No reply came. "Dad?" Gordo heard footsteps behind him and turned around. His mother was leaning against the kitchen counter, smiling brightly. "Mom! I didn't know you were being released from the hospital!" He embraced her.

"I was released late last night. You and Elizabeth were up in the tree house when I got home, and I was so tired that I went straight up to bed…is everything okay with you and Lizzie?" Gordo blushed and continued putting groceries away.

"Yeah."

"She was pretty upset with you last time I saw her."

"Mmm." Gordo tried to avoid conversation by mumbling something about getting his cell phone in his car. He dashed down the pathway and sat opened his door. The cool air fled to his face, returning it to its natural color. He pulled his android off of the dashboard and checked his text messages. He smiled as he read a text from Lizzie.

_HEY. ARE YOU BUSY?_

He replied with:

_NO. WHAT'S UP?_

His phone suddenly rang, startling him. "Hello?"

"Can you meet me at the Digital Bean in ten minutes?"

"Yeah. Is everything alright?"

"Yes…what, you don't want to hang out with me?"

"No!" She laughed as his voice cracked. Gordo cleared his throat. "No. I was just wondering if there was any special occasion."

"No special occasion. See you?"

"I'll be there." Gordo hung up and went back inside. His mom had finished unpacking the groceries for him and was sitting at the counter eating a piece of toast. Gordo gave his famous half-smile and pulled out the apple juice. He poured some and sat down across from his mother. "I'm going out," he said, putting the now empty glass in the sink.

"With Elizabeth?" Roberta asked, glancing at her son over her shoulder.

"Why do you ask?" Roberta noted the uncomfortable look in Gordo's eyes.

"I was just wondering." She hesitated, then added, "Did something happen between you two to make you so uncomfortable, David?"

"Who said I'm uncomfortable?" Gordo blushed profusely and tugged his coat over his shoulders.

"Just instinct. Have a good time. Tell Elizabeth I say 'hi'." Gordo left without another word. At the Digital Bean, he saw Lizzie waiting at a booth. The three amigos had often sat at that exact table after school.

"Gordo!" She called, waving him over. He lifted a hand in a salute-like wave and sat down. "You'll never guess what I found," Lizzie continued, hazel eyes fraught with excitement.

"Hello to you, too." Gordo joked folding his hands on the table. Lizzie sighed and leaned over.

"I've had enough of you and your smart-alecky tone, Mr. Gordon." She raised an eyebrow and pursed her lips.

"Did you just call me Mr. Gordon?"

"Gordo!" She wailed, stretching out his name for good measure. "Stop! I'm really excited about this!"

"Okay, okay. I'm sorry," he whispered, patting her hand.

She inhaled deeply and continued, "I searched for Darian Romero on Google. A few results came up with a group of lawyers in Boston, but that's obviously not our guy. I modified my search to our area, and I found him! He studied psychology at USC, but became a drug addict. He started stealing stuff. Not enough to get him on America's Most Wanted or anything, but still. He was recommended to visit local psychologist Howard Gordon. He stopped going after two weeks. I couldn't find why, though…" Lizzie flipped through a bunch of print-outs she had in front of her, scanning for more useful information. "Is your dad at work today? I think we need to do a little more file digging."

"He's at the office," Gordo said, a frown pulling at his lips. He glanced down at the table. He realized his hand had never moved from Lizzie's. He pulled it back sheepishly. "Tomorrow he's leaving on business, but my mom's going to the office, then. We could go with my mom and wander off to 'find the bathroom'…" he said, using air quotes.

"And just so happen to go into your dad's office and look through his case file for Darian Romero. Accidentally, of course."

"Of course. Let's do it."

"Cool! But, um…do you still want to hang out today?"

"Sure. It's your turn to pick the activity."

"How about a movie. We haven't been to one together in a while."

"Sure. What's playing?"

"Glad you asked! There's this new movie about a girl living on a Farm in Kansas, and she's in love with the doctor's son. No one thinks she's good enough to date him, so she decides to hide her identity to try and win him over and…" Gordo began to tune her out, smiling at her like a love struck idiot. He loved the way she could talk for so long about this movie, never losing excitement for it. Her eyes glowed, and she made wild hand gestures as if they would somehow make up for the current lack of a movie screen. "Gordo, are you even listening to me?"

"Uh, yeah. It sounds good. Let's go."

* * *

><p>The movie theater lights began to dim, and Lizzie grabbed Gordo's coat sleeve to lead him to a seat. About halfway through the movie, Lizzie found herself leaning into Gordo's chest, their hands entwined. Gordo was silently cursing the terrible special effects job that had been done on the movie. No matter though, he decided. If seeing this movie was making Lizzie happy enough to cuddle up with him, he would watch it over and over again all day long. The evil old grandmother on the screen offered the main character an apple. The girl took it graciously. "You think by now that they would have learned to not take apples from old women." Gordo whispered. Lizzie sighed and closed her eyes. Gordo wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her closer. "Are you tired?" He asked, running his hand up and down her arm.<p>

"No," she said, snuggling closer. Her breathing evened. Gordo waved a hand in front of her face, getting no response. He leaned down and planted a soft kiss on her head.

* * *

><p>"I'm home," Gordo called. "Mom? Can I talk to you?"<p>

"Sure. I'm in the family room."

Gordo walked into the family room and sat down in a Lazy Boy Recliner. "Lizzie and I were talking, and…well I know you're going to the office tomorrow, and we want to come help you. We can organize files or something."

"That would be lovely! You haven't been to the office in so long, David, I'm sure my colleagues won't even recognize you!" She beamed, brown eyes lighting up with delight.

Gordo chuckled, pleased to see his mom so happy. "Yeah. What time are you planning on leaving?"

"Could we pick Elizabeth up at 7:45? I need to be there by 8:00."

"I'm sure it's fine. I'm gonna go watch some TV." Gordo slid the recliner back up to its normal position and headed upstairs to his room. He threw himself down onto the bed and grabbed the remote. After channel surfing for a while, he decided on the News. They were getting ready to do an interview.

"Please welcome local Hillridge author, Darian Romero," The news caster said. The audience politely clapped. Gordo's blood ran cold. "We're so excited to have you here, Mr. Romero."

"Excited to be here!" Darian announced, smiling and running his hands through his beard. Gordo picked up his cell phone and dialed Lizzie's number.

"Gordo?" She asked.

"Liz. Turn on the news."

Lizzie swallowed hard. "Uh-huh…it's already on."

"Is that who I think it is?"

"Uh-huh."

"What do we need to do?"

"First of all, I'm going to record the rest of the interview." Gordo could hear her fumbling around for the remote. "And we need to go get his book." On Gordo's screen, Darian held up a hard-cover copy of his book proudly.

"_From Druggie to Author: My True to Life Story_."

"Yeah…Gordo, come and get me. We're going to the bookstore."

"Will do." Gordo hung up and grabbed his coat.

"David? Where are you going?" His mom asked, putting the newspaper down.

"Out. I'll be back soon." He left without another word. Gordo couldn't think straight, and driving took a lot of concentration. He almost passed Lizzie's house. She jumped in the car. "So, what bookstore are we going to?"

She laid her purse down over her lap and buckled up. "Over to Nook's. It's nearby."

"Here it is!" Gordo called, grabbing a green book off a display table. Lizzie rushed over and examined the book.

"Great. Let's go." They walked up to the front desk. The attendant took the book and scanned it.

"Find everything alright?" He asked.

"Yes, thank you." Gordo replied. Lizzie nodded her head in agreement.

"Twenty dollars even." Lizzie reached into her purse, but Gordo put his hand on hers to stop her. He pulled out bills to pay. "Have a nice day."

In the car, Lizzie held the book with shaking hands. "It's okay, Liz," Gordo said, wrapping his arm around her shoulder. He pulled out of the parking spot and headed towards Lizzie's house. "What's the worst that we could find in there?"

"I don't know…I don't even want to think about it."

"It can't be that bad. Trust me. Have I ever lied to you before?"

_Yes, _she wanted to say, _you told me that you loved me. _"No."

"Then why would I start now?"

"I don't know."

"I wouldn't."

Soon the two were sprawled out on Lizzie's bedroom floor, paper clips and post-it's all around them. Lizzie read a passage from the book aloud and thoughtfully picked up a yellow sticky note to mark it as important. She glanced over at Gordo, who had his hands over his eyes and was breathing deeply, willing himself to stay awake. "Gordo, do you want to stop for tonight?"

"Yes," he said weakly. "I gotta get home. We're picking you up at 6:45 tomorrow morning, by the way."

"Okay. Should you really be driving? You look so tired."

"I'll be okay, Liz." He stood up. "Good night." They embraced, holding onto each other for a little longer than necessary. Once Gordo was gone, Lizzie plopped down on her bed. She didn't know if she could stand to be around Gordo anymore. Her overwhelming emotions for him were driving her crazy. And he didn't feel anything for her…or so she thought.


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Okay…so this chapter gets a little steamy. IT'S VERY MILD. I'm not good at writing stuff like that, so don't judge me solely off of that scene. It's vital to the story, as Gordo and Lizzie sort of come to terms at the end of this chapter. Next chapter will be up soon. Please review…you know… the usual. :P HAPPY THANKSGIVING! **

"Morning, Gordo! Good morning, Mrs. Gordon!" Lizzie said, plopping herself down in the back seat of the car.

"Good morning, Elizabeth!" Mrs. Gordon put the car into gear and they were off.

"Gordo," Lizzie began, leaning forward and looking at her ex-boyfriend, "Are you okay?" Gordo groaned.

"David's grouchy in the mornings," Mrs. Gordon commented, turning a corner into the office parking lot.

"Oh, right. Now I remember." Lizzie giggled, recalling their visit to Grubby Gulch when they were 14. Mrs. Gordon parked and everyone hopped out of the car.

"Alright, kids." Mrs. Gordon set down her bag and threw herself into her desk chair. "I have an appointment in ten minutes, and then I have a meeting with my co-workers. So hang out in Mr. Gordon's office upstairs until I'm done meeting with this patient, okay?"

"Sure," Lizzie and Gordo said in unison. They headed upstairs. Lizzie immediately flew over to the filing cabinets and pulled out Darian Romero's file.

"Gordo," she hissed, "get a pad and pencil." He complied and she dictated the important information to him. Gordo shoved the paper into his back pocket and Lizzie put the file away. They spent the rest of the half hour playing around like children. Spinning each other around in the desk chair, playing solitaire on the computer, playing Red Hands together.

Mrs. Gordon soon came back up to get them. "Let's make the office a bit more cheery," she suggested, gesturing to a box in the corner. Inside were several assorted holiday decorations. Some paper suns and umbrellas were included for spring and summer. Lizzie and Gordo taped them up. Then Mrs. Gordon had to leave for her meeting…that's when things got interesting. Lizzie and Gordo somehow found themselves in a friendly game of Truth or Dare.

"Truth or dare?" Lizzie asked, folding her legs crisscross-apple-sauce style.

"Truth, I guess." Gordo personally hated this game, but he knew that Lizzie, being a girl, loved to get in on the latest gossip of her friends. He was playing it, now, to please her.

"Give me a hint about the girl you like."

"I don't like anyone."

"Come on, there must be someone! Even just a little."

Gordo was taken aback, but managed to continue. "Um…she has blonde hair."

"Is she thin? What color are her eyes?"

"You can ask those questions later, McGuire. You asked for _a _hint about the girl I like."

"Do you always have to be so technical?"

"I'm not at liberty to answer that, since your turn is over already."

"Gordo!"

"Truth or dare?" She hesitated, then picked "truth." "What are you thinking about?" Lizzie was quiet. "Liz?"

She stood up. "My legs are cramping."

"Mine too," Gordo agreed, standing up as well. "So…what are you thinking about?"

Lizzie looked hesitant and perhaps a bit scared, but said, "Us."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"What a coincidence. I was thinking about us, too." He gulped. Getting a sudden burst of courage, Gordo leaned forward and laid his lips on hers. He expected her to pull away, but she didn't. Their tongues began to dance together. They pulled away for air. Lizzie fell against Gordo, breathless. Gordo took a deep breath and began to suck and nibble on the side of her neck. It left a nicely sized purple mark. Gordo picked Lizzie up and set her on his mother's desk. They began to kiss again, and soon Lizzie was lying down on the desk. Shirts were flying off, and neither teenager had enough sense left about them to realize that this was happening. Gordo was delusional; his brain full of adrenaline. He rubbed at Lizzie's chest, instinct clearly leading him on. The turn of a doorknob startled them both, and Lizzie rolled off the desk and hid behind it. While she was doing this, Gordo stepped in front of the pile of discarded clothes. Mrs. Gordon came in and eyed her son.

"David?"

"Hey, Mom," Gordo said, trying to keep his cool. Lizzie had somehow managed to put her bra and shirt back on. She popped up from behind the desk.

"I…dropped a pin," she said, as if to explain her quick appearance from behind Mrs. Gordon's desk.

Mrs. Gordon stared at them both suspiciously. "David, why is your shirt off? And you're flushed. You too, Elizabeth."

"It's getting pretty hot in here," Lizzie explained, "and Gordo thought it would be okay to take off his shirt, since it was just me…"

"Really? I thought it was rather chilly in here…" Mrs. Gordon said, folding her arms. Both teenagers were looking extremely guilty. Being a shrink, Mrs. Gordon could easily place her finger on what she thought had been going on in her office, and why it had happened (teen hormones). "Listen, whatever you two were doing in here is your business and your business only. You're both of age, and frankly…I don't even want to know. Now, I was going to run through McDonald's to get some lunch. You two want anything?"

Lizzie and Gordo were now both ridiculously red, but Lizzie found her voice first. "No thanks."

"Yeah…no thanks, Mom." Gordo agreed. His mom shot him a look that clearly said, "We'll talk later." Gordo winced and watched his mom walk out of the room. Lizzie sat herself down on the desk chair and clamped her hands over her eyes. Tears leaked through the small spaced between her fingers. Gordo put his shirt on. He wanted to go over and give Lizzie a hug, but figured she probably wouldn't want him to touch her right then. He shoved his hands deep into his pockets and stared at the floor.

"Oh my gosh…I would have…"

"I know…me too," Gordo said, knowing exactly what she was trying to say. She began to sob. Gordo stayed silent.

"I'm going to go home, Gordo." She said, looking up at him with smeared makeup.

"I understand. I would give you a ride, but I didn't bring my car."

"It's okay. I can walk; it's pretty close by."

"Okay. I-I'll see you later?"

"Yeah," she said, standing up and gathering her things. "Later." **(A/N: Okay, the awkwardness is over…yay!)**

* * *

><p>Gordo pulled up next to Lizzie's house. She was sitting on the porch, holding a bottle of something. The cool air gripped Gordo's face as he got out of the car.<p>

"May I sit with you," he asked, approaching Lizzie.

"I guess." She replied, taking a sip of the liquid in the bottle. Gordo sat down.

"Lizzie! What are you drinking?"

"Whisky. Why?"

"Well…isn't the drinking age 21?" He knew the answer, but honestly couldn't think of any subtle way to start the conversation.

"Yes."

"You're only 18."

"Thank you for sharing, Gordo. Next time I forget how old I am, I'll call and ask you."

Gordo rolled his eyes and made a mental note to _never _be around a drunken Lizzie again. "Liz, we need to talk about what happened this afternoon."

"There's nothing to talk about. Believe me."

"We need to say something. That was a big event and we need to figure out what to do about it."

"Damn you!" She began to cry. "I never want to see you again!"

"Why?" He asked, hurt.

"Because I always get screwed over! Every time I see you, something tragic always happens to me!"

"I'm not following…"

"For you, there were no emotions involved with this afternoon! There were for me! I love you and I always have!"

"What the hell do you mean 'there were no emotions involved with me'? I've loved you since we were kids, Lizzie, and don't you dare say that it's not true!"

"But it's not! Nothing you say is true! If you love me, why'd you break up with me and leave the state? Why'd you date Liza, who you knew was totally wrong for you?"

"Reasons you wouldn't understand!" He lowered his voice. "But I love you, Lizzie McGuire, and don't you _ever _doubt it."

"Go to hell," Lizzie said, standing up, tossing the now empty whisky bottle aside, and heading to her car.

"Lizzie, what are you doing?"

"Leaving!"

"Lizzie, you can't drive! You're drunk!"

"Shut up, Gordo! I can do whatever I want!"

"Lizzie, no." He stood in front of her car door. "I can't let you do this. You'll get killed." She began to cry again. She beat her fists against his chest. Finally she just gave up and fell forward into his arms. Gordo held her as she cried.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I don't know what's wrong with me and…" Lizzie tried to continue, but her voice cracked.

"Ssh. It's okay. Just cry. Sometimes that helps."

"I'm tired of crying," she said, although she was clearly not making any effort to stop.

"I know. It's okay, though. But Lizzie, please don't ever drink when you're upset again. You know you can always call me, right?" She nodded and nuzzled closer to Gordo. Gordo hugged her tight.

"I take back all the awful things I said to you. I didn't mean any of them."

"I know. It's okay."

"Why do you always forgive me? No matter what I do?"

"I think we've talked about this before…I care about you too much to not forgive you. I need you in my life."

"But I always treat you like crap. Remember when I used to steal your crayons and tear your pictures up?"

Gordo chuckled at the memory. "Liz, we were kids then. That doesn't matter now."

"But it's true. I used to do those awful things to you."

"I didn't consider them awful." Gordo commented, trying not to laugh.

"Do you consider me awful now?"

"I could never think that you're awful."

"I love you." His heart ached.

"Lizzie, you're drunk. You don't know what you're saying. You won't remember any of this in the morning."

"I'll remember."

"Do you want to bet?"

Lizzie was silent for a moment, as if considering it. "No."

"Good. 'Cause I don't have anything to bet with."

"Oh." He pulled back a little.

"Come on," he tucked her hair behind her ears and wiped her tears. "Ready to go inside?"

"Will you stay with me for a while?"

"Yeah. Sure. Where are your parents?"

"Out. They went to a movie."

"What about Matt?"

"He's inside somewhere." They walked over to the door, Lizzie starting to get dizzy and using Gordo as extra support. At the sound of the door opening, Matt stepped out of his room.

"Gordo? Lizzie! What happened to my sister?" Matt asked, rushing to Lizzie's aid.

"I've got her, Matt. She's drunk." Gordo said, wrapping his arms around Lizzie and guiding her up the stairs.

"But why would she drink?" He got a suspicious look on his face. "Did you two do something…?"

"Drop it, Matt!" Gordo said, feeling a bit guilty. "Help me get her to her room." Between the two of them, the boys were able to get Lizzie onto her bed. "Thanks, buddy." Gordo thumped Matt on the back. Matt nodded and left the room.

"Gordo?" Lizzie rubbed her eyes. "Can you turn out the light? It's hurting my head." Gordo flipped the light switch and sat down on the edge of her bed.

"You're going to have quite the hang over in the morning," Gordo commented, pulling the blankets over Lizzie.

"Don't remind me," she groaned. She reached over and found Gordo's hand. "Thank you for everything, Gordo."

"Not a problem. I've always got your back, McG."

**A/N: See, it was vital! And if you don't see how it's vital yet...you will, I promise. Expect the next chapter to be pretty exciting! Lizzie will have to make some very important decisions pretty soon! Again, Happy Thanksgiving! Hope you guys all have fun eating turkey, ham…or duck. I don't judge. Heck, you could even eat penguin meat and I wouldn't judge you! Actually…I would. 'Cause penguins are freaking epic. Long A/N, I know…see y'all later!**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Hey, guys…this would have been up 3 days ago, but life kept getting in the way. Sorry. I'm also sorry about the incredibly short length of this chapter. It really is ½ a chapter, but the second half I wrote sucked and I just couldn't get it right. I'm working on it still. But, I figured it's better to get something up than nothing. Next time I update, I promise you a long chapter. Also, I'M POSTING MY CHRISTMAS STORY TOMORROW, SINCE IT'S DECEMBER 1****ST**** TOMORROW! Check it out! The first chapter is going to be a pre-written chapter, since I will have multiple tests to study for. I promise it'll be up, though. ^^ Enjoy. **

**bFishstix: You made me laugh! ^^ Thanks for making my bad day a lot better. The smell? I hate the smell, too! Also, I'm too young. :P Enjoy this sorry excuse for a chapter. **

**River Tam: Thank you. I'm silly quite often. Enjoy. Looking forward to your next update of "Star of David!" :)**

**Tomboy22: Thank you! Hope you had a good holiday! **

**Bubbles237: Thank you! Enjoy!**

**Boris Yeltsin: Thank you! Hope you had a good holiday! I've never had duck, either. I just was remembering "A Christmas Story," lol. I couldn't eat lamb…I think they're too cute when they're living. Call me wimpy. :P Enjoy!**

"Morning!" Lizzie slowly opened her eyes to see Miranda sitting on the edge of her bed.

"Miranda?" Lizzie asked, confused. She tried to sit up, but was stopped by a throbbing in her head. "Ouch," she mumbled, closing her eyes again.

"Yeah…stay down. You're gonna have one hell of a day." Miranda stood up and pranced over to the radio on Lizzie's desk. She put in a CD. "Listen! I have some new music for you!"

"You're much too cheerful for this early in the morning." A techno beat began to float through the room. "What the _hell_is that?"

"Happy music. I figured you could use some."

"Whatever. Miranda, why are you here?"

"Not happy to see me, eh?" She pretended to look hurt. Lizzie sighed. "Fine. Gordo told me what happened."

Lizzie opened her eyes, a horrified look on her face. "Everything?"

"Everything." The two girls were silent. Lizzie promptly shut her eyes again. "I figured you could use some girl-to-girl talk?"

"I didn't even want you to find out, honestly."

"Why not? You know I'd never judge you, Liz."

"I know…I'm just embarrassed. I don't even know how it started to happen."

"Gordo didn't really let on about that."

"Well, you should ask him. My head's hurting. God, I really must have been drunk last night."

"Well, a whole bottle of whisky tends to do that to people," Miranda laughed nervously. She turned serious. "He really loves you, Lizzie. He stayed with you until you stopped throwing up. He sat with you while you slept." Before Lizzie could respond, someone knocked on her door. "Gordo?" Miranda called, unlocking the door.

"Yeah," he said nervously, stepping past Miranda into the room.

"I'm going to go find something to eat," Miranda announced, leaving the room and descending down the stairs.

"Hey," Gordo said. He sat down on the edge of the bed and pursed his lips, afraid to say anything else.

"Hi. Listen, thanks for all you did last night. Miranda told me you stayed with me for most of the night."

He shrugged. "No big deal."

"No, it _is _a big deal, Gordo. You always bail me out of everything."

"Do you remember anything we talked about last night?"

"No…should I?"

Gordo snorted and stood. He blew hot air at his messy curls. "You told me that you love me. And you accused me of lying about ever loving you."

"I-I'm sorry…I…" she stammered, not sure of what to say.

"You were about to go and drive away. Drunk."

"You stopped me?"

He nodded. "There should never be a doubt in your mind that I love you, Lizzie." She didn't know what to say.

"You love me?" She blabbered like an idiot.

"Always have. It hurt when you were bashing me last night. You're a grouchy drunk." He chuckled, despite the minor heartache he was having.

"Wait…since when do you care what someone says or thinks about you?"

"I care what you think and say about me. I hoped it wasn't true, because well, I knew you were drunk. People don't know what they're saying when they're drunk. You're conscience caught up with you, anyway. You apologized."

"And I'm apologizing again. Gordo, I don't know what I said, but I can guarantee that I didn't mean it. I didn't mean to hurt you."

"I know." He gave his trademark grin and leaned down to hug Lizzie. She wrapped her arms around him. Miranda stood in the doorway. She cleared her throat. "I, um…have to go." Gordo stood up and left.

"Yeah. Bye, lover boy!" Miranda called. She and Lizzie giggled.

**A/N: Honestly, I know this seems incomplete. I'll get a longer (and more complete) chapter up within the next couple days. Until then, please enjoy AND REVIEW my Christmas story! Hint, hint. See y'all later. **


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: *cough* Remember this story? Yeah, I barely did, too. Well, I got a sudden burst of inspiration, so I'm going to write for it! **

"Why does every magazine have some cheesy romance quiz in the back?" Miranda asked, setting another magazine down on their table at the Digital Bean. She sighed. "These things don't work half the time, anyway. _I _would know."

Lizzie forced a smile. Matt hadn't made her take her anti-depressant this morning, since it can't be mixed with alcohol, and there was bound to be some still in her bloodstream.

"I took a few of those. Back when I was with Gordo. Our score came out perfectly every time," Lizzie commented absently, flipping through her copy of _People._

Miranda scoffed. Lizzie put down the magazine.

Lizzie said, "You've seemed a little on edge the past few days. What's going on?"

"I finally broke up with Keith two days ago," Miranda blurted. "I hadn't seen him since graduation, simply because he was always 'busy.'"

Lizzie nodded. "I remember."

"Well, two days ago, I went to his house to surprise him, and I walked in on him in bed with another girl. Some bleach-blonde slut with fake boobs. So I dumped him right then and there."

"Good for you!"

"But I've been wondering…how long did this go on? And what do I do with all this freedom, now?"

"You'll probably never know how long it went on." Lizzie frowned. "And when I got 'freedom' _you _wanted to take me out clubbing."

"Yeah, well, I didn't realize you would bounce back so slowly."

"Right," Lizzie blushed. "So, you want to go check out that club?"

"No. Not tonight. I'm sure you've still got a pretty wicked headache."

Lizzie nodded. "Yeah, I do."

"Wanna just head to your place then? Watch a movie?"

"Sure."

"Mom, Dad? I need to talk to you," Gordo said, sitting down across from them at the table.

"Sure, son. What is it?" Howard asked, blue eyes full of curiosity.

"I'm thinking about my college arrangement. It's almost September. I really…have nothing I want to go back to New York for. I was thinking I would wait a year and then go to UCLA instead. If I could live with you for a while, of course."

"Oh, David! We'd love to have you," Roberta said, smiling with glee. "This ought to help your relationship with Lizzie, too, huh?" Gordo rolled his eyes and stood up.

"I have some phone calls to make." He headed up to his room, dialing a phone number on the way. He called and talked to the dean of NYU, and the land-lord of his apartment. As long as he came out and paid the last rent, it was fine if he left. The school couldn't care less about Gordo either way. Gordo got online and booked an airline ticket. He would leave tomorrow morning at eight and go get his stuff. He'd return home the next day.

"Gordon." Gordo jumped. He turned and looked at his window. There sat the man with the red beard, knife in hand. "Hey. How have you been?" The man asked, twirling his dagger nonchalantly.

"Um…fine. How-how are you?"

"I'm good. I wrote a book. Have you read it?"

"No, a friend of mine has it, though."

"How's your girlfriend?" Gordo thought his next move over carefully. He could tell the truth, flee the room, or make something up. He was fresh out of good stories, and had no clue if Darian could throw a knife with accuracy. At least if he told the truth, this guy might decide to leave Lizzie out of it.

"We broke up."

"Oh, what a shame. You still friends?"

"No. I don't talk to her at all," Gordo fibbed in a feeble attempt to keep the man away from Lizzie.

"Hmm…Well, Gordon, I told you I would be back. I'm not through with you yet."

"Where's your friend?" Gordo asked, hoping to delay whatever Darian was going to do.

"Gone. If ya know what I mean." He snickered.

"Oh…say, do you like sports?"

"Face it; there's nothing to talk about."

"So…what, are you just going to kill me or make me suffer first?"

"You'll see." That couldn't be good. Gordo grimaced. "Perhaps I should go get a friend of yours?"

"No! Please!" Gordo stood up, walking carefully over to his lamp. He laid his hand on it, ready to fight if necessary. "Please, leave Lizzie out of this. You said you have a problem with my family. She's not related to me."

"You still love her, Gordon, or you wouldn't care." Then he was gone. Poof, gone. Gordo made a mad dash for his phone.

"Hello?" Lizzie asked.

"Lizzie, oh thank God." Gordo sighed. "Listen, I talked to Darian, and—''

"You _talked _to Darian? Without him dangling a knife in your face?"

"Well, he had a knife, but he kept it out of my face…anyway, Liz, he was saying that he was going to go find a friend of mine. I thought he might be talking about you. Can we stay on the phone for a while, just so I'll know if anything happens?"

Lizzie snickered at his being over protective but replied with, "Yeah. Of course, Gordo."

"Cool. So whatcha up to?"

"Oh…nothing. Have you thought anymore about college?"

"Yeah, as a matter of fact, I have."

"And…?"

"I'm just going to wait a year and then go to UCLA."

"Oh, Gordo! That's great!"

"I thought you'd think so."

"I think we've beat our record," Gordo said, yawning.

"Yeah…we've been talking for four hours. Gordo, I don't think he's going to come. I want to go to bed."

"Okay. Goodnight, Lizzie."

"Goodnight, Gordo." Gordo hung up the phone. He was fatigued, and wished to go to bed, but he had to get ready to leave tomorrow morning. He threw a shirt and pair of jeans into a backpack (he would only be gone for a day) along with his toothbrush, comb, and toothpaste. He threw himself into bed. Morning came all too soon.

Gordo got his suitcase out of the closet and sighed. He had been traveling too much lately. He shoved a couple days' worth of clothes into the bag and zipped it up. He would be back the next day, anyway. He stalked down the stairs and said a quick goodbye to his parents, then drove to Lizzie's. However, Miranda came to the door instead.

"Gordo," she said, "hi."

"Hi. Can I come in and talk to you and Lizzie?"

"Sure." Miranda held the door open farther. Gordo sidestepped her and walked into the living room.

"Gordo!" Lizzie exclaimed, getting to her feet.

"I'm going back to New York to move out of my apartment. So I'm saying goodbye, now." Lizzie held out her arms and they embraced.

"I'll see you soon," she said. Gordo nodded and hugged Miranda. Then he was gone.

As he got outside, Gordo reached for his keys, but noticed that his car door was already unlocked. He looked around suspiciously. He hadn't locked his car. He shrugged it off and got into the car. Nothing looked suspicious. He turned the car on and drove to the airport.

Gordo threw his suitcase onto the conveyer belt in the security department. It was small and light enough to be a carry-on, so why pay to check a bag? He slipped his shoes off and put them on the belt, too.

Suddenly, red lights began to go off above the security department. Alarms sounded. All eyes turned to the line Gordo was in, and several security guards rushed over. Gordo's suitcase was pushed through the screening area and immediately snatched by an officer.

"Excuse me," Gordo asked. "What's going on?"

"There's a suspicious shape in your suitcase, sir," the officer replied, opening the bag to search it. Gordo sighed.

"I only have clothes in there," he said, tapping his foot.

"Oh, really?" The officer held up something that Gordo had never seen up close before. A gun. He went pale in the face.

"Officer, I did _not _put that in my suitcase. I've never even seen a gun in real life before."

"Right. That's what they all say."

More officers swarmed around Gordo. He was handcuffed and led to a back room. A conference room. He was shoved down into a chair. Soon, a police car pulled up to the back door, and Gordo was escorted to the police station. Gordo was terrified, but had studied a lot of law.

"What are my charges?" he asked.

"I'll tell you when I'm good and ready," Gordo's officer announced.

"I have a right to know my charges," Gordo insisted.

The officer sighed. "Attempting to bring a gun on a plane, illegal weapons in an airport, suspicious public behavior, and endangering citizens." **(A/N: I really didn't feel like looking up the technical terms for this.)**

Gordo scoffed. "All that for a gun I didn't even put in my suitcase?" The officer shoved Gordo toward a desk.

"Sign these papers."

"Being able to move my hands would help."

"Don't be a smart-ass. You're in a lot of trouble." He unlocked the handcuffs and Gordo signed the papers. He was then taken to an interrogation room where he was read his rights.

"Why are you here today?" the detective asked. Gordo rolled his eyes.

"You have my file. I think you know."

"If you cooperate, this will be a lot easier on both of us."

"I'm here because they found a gun in my suitcase at the airport."

"How did that gun get there?"

"I don't know."

"Well, someone had to put it there."

"Yeah, but I didn't," Gordo snapped.

"Then who did?"

"I don't know! That's the whole point!"

"Surely you must have a slight idea."

"This is ridiculous. I want a lawyer."

"Fine." The detective sat back in his chair.

**A/N: I'm really happy I'm starting this story again. ^_^ Please review. **

**Thinking of You will be updated soon. **


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